In recent weeks, Barack Obama has jumped head first into the Middle East peace process, touting the two-state solution as the end point, the road map as the guide, and peace as the final goal. The U.S. president's high-profile speech in Cairo to Muslims around the world set the tone -- soon to be followed, it was promised, with action.

As part of that push, the administration has looked beyond Washington's usual partners to engage other regional players, including Syria, officially designated by the U.S. government as a state sponsor of terrorism and treated by many Arab regimes as a pariah. But the country bills itself as a key go-between for the United States, Israel, and hard-liners in the region, such as Hamas and Hezbollah. With Turkey looking to resuscitate talks between Damascus and Tel Aviv, U.S. peace envoy George Mitchell arrives in Syria this week to push for the same. Ahead of the visit, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem spoke with journalist Helena Cobban on Obama's speech and on how Syria sees the challenges, frustrations, and hopes for U.S.-Syrian relations. Excerpts:

On his impressions of Obama, his hopes from Obama's [at that moment underway] Cairo speech, and George Mitchell's peace mission:

We think President Barack Obama seems very sincere. But can he deliver? There is always Congress and the pro-Israeli lobby to take into account.

With the speech, we hope Obama can deliver everybody's dreams! Including his own dream and that of the Palestinians -- to see the occupied territories freed from occupation and all Israelis to be able to live in peace.

... I don't know [former] Senator Mitchell, but I have worked closely in the past with Fred Hof, who is one of his assistants. What we've heard about Mitchell's work in Northern Ireland and on the Mitchell commission on the Palestinian issue is encouraging to us. We are very ready to work with him.

We approve of Barack Obama a lot. The man put a comprehensive peace back on the agenda. He also intends to pull out of Iraq completely. We are ready to help with that, but we need our conditions in the matter addressed, too.

On the May 31 phone call he had with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:

I think Hillary Clinton is a good and effective secretary of state. We agreed on a road map to normalize U.S.-Syrian relations in all fields -- political, security, and cultural. We agreed we have a mutual, shared vision that centers around these three points: to stabilize Iraq, to work for a comprehensive peace in the Middle East, and to cooperate on combating terrorism.

We realize none of these depend on Syria and the U.S. alone, but they also involve other players.

On the way the Obama administration has been implementing sanctions against Syria:

I am very eager to see a real improvement in our relations with Washington. But nothing has happened yet. Even on the question of the parts for our civilian air fleet [whose shipment has been blocked under U.S. sanctions legislation], we have seen no movement. They haven't informed the Europeans yet that it's OK to ship those parts. I think your commerce secretary could authorize this whenever he wants, as it's a matter of aviation safety.

... It seems anachronistic to us that Obama recently renewed the Syrian Accountability and Restoration of Lebanese Sovereignty Act. The issue has been resolved! We withdrew our troops from Lebanon and have exchanged ambassadors with Beirut.

On Syria's continued presence on the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism:

We know that our position on the list is not even really in regard to Syria and the United States as such, but more related to Hezbollah and Hamas and their fight against Israel. But it's very strange that you condemn me as a "terrorist" at the same time as you call on me to help you combat terrorism in Iraq and elsewhere. It doesn't make sense!

On Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who visited Damascus recently and held a number of meetings with President Bashar al-Assad:

Senator Kerry's role is essential. He enjoys the trust of my president. They have had good meetings and several good telephone calls. There is chemistry between the two men, you could say.

On prospects for dealing with Israel's Likud government:

The most important thing is that there should be a political decision for peace. It is not important to us whether the government is Likud or Labor.

On the proximity talks that the Turkish government hosted throughout several months of 2008 between Syria and Israel:

We were very happy with the Turkish role. The Turks were completely professional, trustworthy, and helpful as mediators. We think that was a good approach: to start with the indirect talks in that way. And then, if we had gotten over the preliminaries with the Turks the plan was to hand the task of completing the peace agreement over to the Americans.