A Sky News Arabia correspondent quoted a source at the Elysée Palace as saying that President Macron's program in Syria will not see any changes after the two explosions that occurred near the hotel where the French president is staying.

The Elysée said Macron did not hear any explosions while heading to meet the Syrian president at the People's Palace in Damascus.

This is the first visit by a French president to Syria since former President Nicolas Sarkozy's second visit in 2009, before a rift between the two countries followed the former regime's bloody crackdown on protests that erupted in 2011 and quickly turned into a devastating conflict that has killed more than half a million people.

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Macron is the first president of a European Union member state to travel to Damascus since Assad's ouster.

The official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) described the visit as 'historic,' considering it a 'pivotal milestone in the path of restoring Syria's international presence, embodying the transition of Syrian-French relations to a new phase based on mutual respect and equal partnership.'