The U.S. and Syria could hold their first substantive high-level talks in years as early as Thursday, energizing an international gathering on Iraq's future.

Syria has been eager to rekindle relations with a standoffish United States. There were signs Wednesday that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was warmer to that idea than to what would be a more dramatic face-to-face meeting with longtime adversary Iran.

'Wouldn't rule it out,' Rice responded with a thoughtful nod when asked about meeting with Syria's moderate foreign minister, a former ambassador to Washington. 'We'll see who's there and what conversations take place.' Read more