“As we expand our regional engagement here in the Middle East, I would like to emphasise that there will be no deals made at Lebanon’s expense with Syrians or others,” US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Hale told reporters in Lebanon.

Hale’s visit came a day after Hale’s boss, Jeffrey Feltman—the acting assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs—held “constructive” talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem and vowed to pursue dialogue with Damascus.

It was Feltman’s second visit to the Syrian capital in two months. He is the most senior US official to hold talks there since 2005.

During a visit to Beirut last month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also pledged that the United States would not mend fences with Syria at Lebanon’s expense.

Hale said Washington would keep a close eye on June 7 elections in Lebanon in which the current Western-backed majority in parliament faces a tight race with an alliance led by Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

“We will be watching the election process as it unfolds,” he said, expressing “strong support for elections that are fair, free and held without violence or intimidation.”

Two independent US groups will be monitoring the conduct of the polls.