UN Secretary-General Guterres Visits Damascus — First UN Chief Trip to Syria in 17 Years

UN Secretary-General António Guterres arrived in Damascus on July 25, 2026, the first official visit by a sitting UN chief to Syria since 2009. President Ahmad al-Sharaa received Guterres at the People's Palace; the two discussed expanding UN-Syria cooperation on humanitarian aid, early recovery, and reconstruction. Guterres, who called the trip 'a visit of solidarity,' toured Damascus's old quarter, the Umayyad Mosque, and Sednaya prison, and said Israeli violations of Syrian sovereignty around the Golan Heights 'must cease' and were 'totally unacceptable.'