US President Donald Trump told Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in a phone call on Monday that he wanted the violence unfolding between Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to end, well-placed sources speaking on background told Al-Monitor. The sources said that Trump had secured a pledge from the Syrian leader to not enter al-Hasakeh as the Syrian army advanced nearer to the Kurdish-held city. 

In a readout of the call, the Syrian presidency said that “both sides had emphasized the need to guarantee the Kurdish people’s rights and protection within the framework of the Syrian state.” At the time of publication, the White House has not issued a readout of the call.

The call came soon after Sharaa met with SDF commander in chief Mazloum Kobane to finalize the ceasefire agreement that was announced yesterday. They also agreed to continue working together against ISIS, the Syrian presidency’s readout noted.

The ceasefire agreement, which was hailed by US Syrian envoy Tom Barrack as a historic step, effectively amounted to the SDF’s capitulation to nearly all of Damascus’ demands under the integration deal signed by the two leaders in March 2025. Kobane signed the deal, albeit using an online signature, on Sunday, as Syrian government forces pushed the SDF out of its majority-Arab strongholds of Raqqa, Tabqa and Deir ez-Zor, where most of Syria’s oil is located.