US gave Syria list of conditions for partial sanctions relief, sources say

The United States has handed Syria a list of conditions that it wants Damascus to fulfill in exchange for partial sanctions relief, six people familiar with the matter told Reuters, including ensuring foreigners are not in senior governing roles.

US Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Levant and Syria Natasha Franceschi gave the list of demands to Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani at an in-person meeting on the sidelines of a Syria donor conference in Brussels on 18 March, according to two of the people – a US official and a Syrian source familiar with the matter.

Neither the list nor the in-person meeting, the first high-level direct contact between Damascus and Washington since US President Donald Trump took office on 20 January, has been previously reported.

Reuters spoke to six sources for this story, including two US officials, a Syrian source, a regional diplomat and two sources in Washington familiar with the matter. They all requested anonymity to discuss the high-level diplomacy.

Among the conditions placed by the United States are Syria’s destruction of any remaining chemical weapons stores and cooperation on counter-terrorism, the two US officials, the Syrian source and both sources in Washington said.

Another demand was making sure foreign fighters are not installed in senior roles in Syria’s governing structure, the US officials and one of the sources in Washington said.

Syria has already appointed some foreign former rebels, including Uyghurs, a Jordanian and a Turk, to its Defense Ministry – a move that alarmed foreign governments.

Washington also asked Syria to appoint a liaison to assist US efforts to find Austin Tice, the US journalist who went missing in Syria over a decade ago, according to the two US officials and both sources in Washington.

In return for fulfilling all the demands, Washington would provide some sanctions relief, all six sources said. The sources did not specify what relief would be offered, and said Washington did not provide a specific timeline for the conditions to be fulfilled.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry and the US State Department did not respond to requests for comment.

Syria is in desperate need of sanctions relief to kick start an economy collapsed by nearly 14 years of war, during which the United States, the UK and Europe placed tough sanctions on people, businesses and whole sectors of Syria’s economy in a bid to squeeze now-ousted leader Bashar Al-Assad.

Some of those sanctions have been temporarily suspended, with limited effect. The US issued a six-month general license in January to ease the flow of humanitarian aid, but the move was not considered enough to allow Qatar to pay for public sector salaries through Syria’s central bank.

Syrian officials including Al-Shaibani and interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa have called for sanctions to be fully lifted, saying it is unjust to keep them in place following Al-Assad’s toppling by a lightning rebel offensive in December.

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