Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday ruled out sending troops to Lebanon, after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Damascus fight the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization.
“The solution for Lebanon will not come through war and the bombing of cities,” the Sunni Islamist leader told Al Mashhad Media in an interview. He urged the Lebanese state and the international community to advance a political solution that “everyone can believe in.”

“The crisis in Lebanon is very serious and there is a deadlock in political solutions,” al-Sharaa said. “President Trump expressed concern about the current situation in Lebanon, and his words were misunderstood. He spoke about Syria’s role in seeking a safe and peaceful solution, but people understood him as if Syria would enter Lebanon tomorrow morning.”

Trump in recent weeks expressed frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over airstrikes in Lebanon that he said could have jeopardized his peace deal with the Iranian regime.