DAMASCUS, Syria — The US flag was hoisted Thursday outside of the long-shuttered American ambassador’s residence in Damascus, in a sign of growing ties between Washington and the new Syrian government.

The US ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, who has also been appointed special envoy to Syria, arrived to inaugurate the residence, Syrian state-run news agency SANA reported.

On Thursday, speaking to Saudi channel Al Arabiya in Damascus, Barrack described the long-standing conflict between Syria and Israel, who have technically been at war since 1948, as a “solvable problem” through dialogue, proposing a “non-aggression agreement” between them.

Reuters reported earlier this week that Israel and Syria are in direct contact and have, in recent weeks, held face-to-face meetings aimed at calming tensions and preventing conflict in the border region.

Washington hasn’t formally reopened its embassy in Damascus, which closed in 2012 after protests against the government of strongman president Bashar al-Assad were met by a brutal crackdown and spiraled into civil war. Assad was unseated in December in a lightning rebel offensive.

But Barrack’s visit and the raising of the flag were a significant signal of warming relations.

Washington was initially circumspect about Syria’s new leaders, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former leader of an Islamist insurgent group that the US still lists as a terrorist organization.

However, US President Donald Trump’s administration, encouraged by two US allies in the region, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, has shown increasing openness to Damascus in recent weeks.

Trump held a surprise meeting with al-Sharaa in Riyadh earlier this month, and the US has begun to roll back decades of sanctions slapped on Syria under the Assad dynasty.

The US State Department posted a statement on X on Thursday attributed to Trump announcing Barrack’s appointment as envoy to Syria.

“Tom understands there is great potential in working with Syria to stop Radicalism, improve Relations, and secure Peace in the Middle East. Together, we will Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN!” the statement said.

Barrack thanked Trump in an X post for “your bold vision, empowering a historically rich region, long oppressed, to reclaim its destiny through self-determination.”