Erdogan, Trump, Mohammed bin Salman and Alsharaa begin online meet

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, US President Donald Trump, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Syria's President Ahmed Alsharaa have attended an online meeting, Anadolu reported on Wednesday morning.

Turkish President Erdogan said the US president's decision to lift sanctions on Syria carries historic importance.

Trump, in Riyadh on the first state visit of his second term, became the first US president in 25 years to meet a Syrian leader.

The two held brief talks ahead of a larger gathering of Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia during Trump's tour of the region, a White House official said.

No US president has met a Syrian leader since Bill Clinton saw Hafez al Assad, Bashar's father, in Geneva in 2000.

Trump announced on Tuesday that he was lifting "brutal and crippling" Assad-era sanctions on Syria in response to demands from Alsharaa's allies in Türkiye and Saudi Arabia—in his latest step out of tune with US ally Israel.

Israel has opposed sanctions relief for Syria, but Trump on Tuesday said that bin Salman and Erdogan encouraged him to make the move.

Trump said it was Syrians' "time to shine" and that easing sanctions would "give them a chance at greatness".

Syrians celebrated the news, with dozens of men, women and children gathering in Damascus's Umayyad Square.

The Syrian foreign ministry called Trump's decision a "pivotal turning point" that would help bring stability.

Trump’s Mideast tour

Trump’s first day of a four-day swing through the Gulf region was marked by lavish ceremony and business deals, including a $600 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia to invest in the US and $142 billion in US arms sales to the kingdom.

Later on Wednesday, Trump will fly to Qatari capital Doha, where he will participate in a state visit with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani and other officials.

Qatar, a key US ally, is expected to announce hundreds of billions of dollars in investments in the US.

Following his visit to Qatar, Trump will fly to Abu Dhabi to meet with the UAE's leaders on Thursday.

He is then slated to fly back to Washington on Friday, but he has said he could fly to Türkiye instead for a potential meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.