EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas hopes for a political agreement on easing Syria sanctions. The discussion among European ministers comes as Assad is ousted, with some capitals ready to suspend sanctions to support the transition.

The European Union is considering a step-by-step suspension of multiple economic sanctions targeting Syria as it seeks to support the country’s transition, while retaining some leverage, according to two internal documents seen by Reuters.

EU crisis management chief Hadja Lahbib on Friday became the first European Union official to visit Syria since Islamist-led forces toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad last month.

EU crisis management chief Hadja Lahbib announced a 235 million euro aid package for Syria and neighbouring countries on Friday during a visit to Damascus.

For more than a decade, Mr. al-Assad remained in power, employing vicious means to do so while enjoying an obscene amount of impunity. In recent years he was even beginning to be welcomed back to an international community eager to move on and to return Syrian refugees, despite clear evidence that Syria was not safe.

The summer home of ousted leader Bashar al-Assad was once off-limits to ordinary Syrians. Now people are lining up to visit and wandering around the rooms — which are empty after being looted.

Saudi Arabia's top diplomat said Friday the kingdom was seeking to help Syria's new authorities secure the lifting of international sanctions, during his first visit to Damascus since Bashar al-Assad's overthrow.

Syria's foreign minister said in a conversation with Tony Blair that the scrapping of sanctions aimed at the Assad regime is necessary for stability.

President Donald Trump is a fortunate man with the resolve to create his own luck. As he reenters the Oval Office, he finds a world in flux, with American adversaries more weakened than during his first term.

Syria's top diplomat said Wednesday that lifting economic sanctions imposed during the rule of ousted president Bashar al-Assad was "key" to restoring stability in the war-torn country.For weeks, Syria's new authorities have been lobbying Western powers to scrap restrictions that had targeted Assad's administration over his brutal 2011 crackdown on anti-government protests,

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday she hopes a political agreement on easing Syria sanctions can be reached at a gathering of European ministers next week.