Easing sanctions on Syria in EU’s agenda: Foreign policy chief

By Esra Tekin

ISTANBUL (AA) - EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Sunday announced that easing sanctions on Syria is on their agenda.

“We will be looking at how to ease sanctions. But this must follow tangible progress in a political transition that reflects Syria in all its diversity,” Kallas said at a Syria meeting held in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Stressing that both hopes and challenges exist in Syria, Kallas said on X that she will discuss the ongoing transition process in Syria with the foreign ministers of Gulf, Middle Eastern, and European countries.

She expressed the EU’s readiness to help in the transition process. The EU is here to help in this transition, where we are needed and can be of most use,” she added.

Foreign ministers from Arab and Western countries held a meeting in Riyadh on Sunday to discuss the situation in Syria following last month’s fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

Assad, Syria's leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party's decades-long regime.

The takeover came after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham fighters captured key cities in a lightning offensive that lasted less than two weeks.

A new administration led by Ahmed al-Sharaa has now taken control of the country.