Bombs exploded near the hotel where Emmanuel Macron was staying in the Syrian capital of Damascus on Tuesday, moments before he met with Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Dramatic footage shows the moment a second explosion occurred while dozens of locals and security services were gathering round a fire, with a plume of black smoke rising from the scene.

The blasts underline the security challenges that remain in Syria, where Macron became the first EU leader to visit since dictator Bashar al-Assad was ousted in 2024. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky visited in April.

The Elysee said Macron did not hear the explosions from the presidential motorcade.

Macron donned his trademark aviator sunglasses as he shook Mr Sharaa’s hand.

The French president’s visit comes during a period of relative calm in the Middle East after ceasefires in Iran and Lebanon.

He will travel next to Ankara, Turkey, for the Nato summit, where Mr Sharaa is also expected to attend and hold a high-profile meeting with US president Donald Trump.

“I have come to express France’s commitment to the Syrian people. For a sovereign Syria, united in its diversity and at peace with its neighbours,” Macron said in a post on X. “Together, let us open a new chapter of stability and peace.”

France supports all those who can “contribute to build a new Syria” in line with the aspirations expressed since the 2011 Arab Spring, Macron’s office said, referring to a period of widespread uprisings across the Middle East that called for political change and reform.

Macron will “engage directly with diverse Syrian people” after he meets with Mr Sharaa, his office said.

The visit is the latest development in Syria's geopolitical transformation under Mr Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda commander who has established close ties with Western and Middle Eastern powers that shunned Assad, as he seeks to rebuild a country shattered by 13 years of war.

The pair have previously met, with the French president hosting Mr Sharaa in Paris in May 2025, where he urged European and US leaders to lift longstanding sanctions on Damascus. Most of those sanctions had since been lifted.

Paris was an early supporter of Syria’s new leadership, even while others were skeptical of Mr Sharaa’s Islamist-led rule and former role as the head of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militant group, which was previously linked to al-Qaeda.

Western governments had been concerned about the treatment and inclusion of women and minorities, and whether Syria's new government would transition into a more democratic rule.

Syria is still battered from 13 years of war that left much of it in ruins, drove millions into poverty, and will cost hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild.

While Syria has signed memorandums of understanding with states and large companies for large investment projects, they have not yet come to fruition.