During a Tuesday briefing with reporters, Al-Ansari declined to comment directly on President-elect Donald Trump’s stated aversion to U.S. involvement in Syria. He said, however, that Qatar is in touch with the Biden administration and the Trump transition team about the best approach to take to the war-torn country.

Qatari officials are in contact with the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which spearheaded the ouster of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, as well as other groups in Syria, an official briefed on the developments told AFP on Tuesday.