Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Lebanese President Michel Suleiman have announced that the two countries are to establish diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level, a Syrian official said.
The two countries announced last month that they intended to open diplomatic relations for the first time. Today’s agreement formally set those ties on the highest level.
"The two presidents...have instructed their foreign ministers to take the necessary steps in this regard, starting from today," Buthaina Shaaban, an adviser to President Assad said.
Tension has been high between the two countries since the assassination of the Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.
Many Lebanese blame Damascus for the killing, but it denies involvement.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice welcomed the announcement as a "very good first step."
"We have long stood for the normalization of relations between Syria and Lebanon on the basis of equality and respect for Lebanese sovereignty," Ms Rice told a news conference this evening.
"This will prove to be a very good first step," she added.
Damascus has been under pressure from the United States and other governments, including France, to treat its smaller neighbor more as a sovereign state by taking steps that include opening a Beirut embassy and demarcating borders with Lebanon.
Ms Rice said Syria must now go ahead and demarcate the border with Lebanon and respect Syria's sovereignty in other ways.
Reuters