Trump to stay away from peace talks after his whirlwind Middle East diplomacy tour

DONALD Trump stepped back from mediating peace talks between Russia and Ukraine today after Vladimir Putin confirmed he would not be attending.

- By Giles Sheldrick Chief Reporter

It came after an extraordinary 48 hours in the Middle East which saw the US president seal £600billion in deals with the Saudi government, before sensationally lifting sanctions on Syria and shaking hands with its new president Ahmed al-Sharaa.

In a historic meeting — the first between an American and Syrian president in 25 years — Trump lifted strangulating economic penalties, saying freedom "gives them a chance for greatness".

Former Al Qaeda fighter al-Sharaa had battled US forces in Iraq and was imprisoned in the notorious Abu Ghraib American military jail in Iraq between 2006 and 2011.

Until recently, he was a jihadi military commander with a £10million bounty on his head.

Potential

But the reformed Islamist led the insurgency against dictator Bashar al-Assad, forcing him to flee to the sanctuary of Russia in December.

Al-Sharaa is now promoting peace across the Middle East.

During their 30-minute face-to-face meeting at the Gulf Cooperation Council leaders' conference in Saudi capital Riyadh, Trump said: “We will be dropping all of the sanctions on Syria, which I think will be a good thing.”