U.S. envoy Tom Barrack met Wednesday with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, after he met on Tuesday and Monday with President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Speaker Nabih Berri and a host of political, religious and financial figures.

Barrack said in a statement from Bkerki that the situation in Lebanon is complicated but assured that everybody is doing their best.

U.S. envoy Tom Barrack “did not open a door for discussions” Monday with President Joseph Aoun and PM Nawaf Salam, reiterating his administration’s stance on Hezbollah’s arms, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Tuesday.

U.S. envoy Tom Barrack’s current visit to Lebanon “ended with the same outcome of the previous visit,” Al-Arabiya’s Al-Hadath channel quoted “sources in Beirut” as saying on Tuesday.

President Joseph Aoun traveled Tuesday to Bahrain on a two-day official visit at the invitation of Bahraini King Hamad bin Issa Al-Khalifa. He was accompanied by Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Tuesday accused President Joseph Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and PM Nawaf Salam of “undermining the constitution and the Lebanese institutions” by sidelining the government and parliament in their response to U.S. envoy Tom Barrack’s paper.

Speaker Nabih Berri will propose to U.S. envoy Tom Barrack that Israel fully halt its attacks for 15 days after which Lebanon would begin removing what’s left of Hezbollah’s arms, TV networks said ahead of the two men’s meeting on Tuesday.

"The meeting between Berri and Barrack was very positive and we can say that it dispelled the pessimistic atmosphere that had recently prevailed," sources told LBCI television.

U.S. envoy Tom Barrack said Tuesday that he held a "great" meeting with Speaker Nabih Berri and that he is optimistic about his ongoing visit to Lebanon.

The U.S. "is never gonna abandon Lebanon," he told reporters as he arrived for the talks.

Visiting U.S. envoy Tom Barrack has said that the Lebanese Army has to be "properly trained as a peacekeeping force, not as a military offensive force."

In an interview with Tele Liban, Barrack added that Washington has "no demands."

President Joseph Aoun on Monday called on the Lebanese to “unify efforts and act objectively and responsible to keep Lebanon away from the conflict around us,” referring to the latest sectarian bloodshed in neighboring Syria.

By Asher Kaufman, University of Notre Dame

(THE CONVERSATION) A fragile ceasefire was put in place in southern Syria on July 19, 2025, after days of violence between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes that drew in government forces and prompted Israeli strikes on the capital, Damascus, as a warning to pull back from Druze areas. The United States helped broker the latest agreement, fearing a spillover of violence to other parts of Syria.