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Ukraine Foreign Minister Seeks Support on Visit to Iraq

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein hold a joint news conference in Baghdad, Iraq April 17, 2023. (Reuters)
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein hold a joint news conference in Baghdad, Iraq April 17, 2023. (Reuters)
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Ukraine Foreign Minister Seeks Support on Visit to Iraq

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein hold a joint news conference in Baghdad, Iraq April 17, 2023. (Reuters)
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein hold a joint news conference in Baghdad, Iraq April 17, 2023. (Reuters)

Ukraine's foreign minister visited Iraq on Monday for the first time since Russia's invasion, seeking diplomatic support from the Middle East where Moscow has been cultivating friends.

"We definitely see Iraq as a country that is capable of building bridges," Dmytro Kuleba said at a press conference alongside Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein.

"We welcome every effort to restore peace in Ukraine. There is one key cornerstone that must be laid down at the very foundation of every effort: and that cornerstone is the restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity."

Hussein called for a ceasefire in Ukraine, saying this was the same message given to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov who visited Iraq in February.

"We always strive to be a part of the solution. Wars end with negotiation and dialogue; that’s why we believe in the language of dialogue," Hussein said.

"That’s why when we negotiate or discuss with officials in Moscow, and Minister Lavrov was here in the same hall, we mentioned the same principles, and we told them that we support a ceasefire and the start of negotiations."

There are no peace talks in the Russia-Ukraine war. Moscow says Kyiv must first accept its annexation of Ukrainian territory; Ukraine says Russia must pull out its troops.

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US Eases Restrictions on Syria While Keeping Sanctions in Place

A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
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US Eases Restrictions on Syria While Keeping Sanctions in Place

A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)

The US on Monday eased some restrictions on Syria's transitional government to allow the entry of humanitarian aid after opposition factions ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad last month.

The US Treasury issued a general license, lasting six months, that authorizes certain transactions with the Syrian government, including some energy sales and incidental transactions.

The move does not lift sanctions on the nation that has been battered by more than a decade of war, but indicates a limited show of US support for the new transitional government.

The general license underscores America's commitment to ensuring its sanctions “do not impede activities to meet basic human needs, including the provision of public services or humanitarian assistance,” a Treasury Department statement reads.

Since Assad's ouster, representatives from the nation's new de facto authorities have said that the new Syria will be inclusive and open to the world.

The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.

The announcement followed a meeting in Damascus between al-Sharaa, who was once aligned with al-Qaeda, and the top US diplomat for the Middle East, Barbara Leaf, who led the first US diplomatic delegation into Syria since Assad’s ouster. The US and UN have long designated HTS as a terrorist organization.

HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.

Much of the world ended diplomatic relations with Assad because of his crackdown on protesters, and sanctioned him and his Russian and Iranian associates.

Syria’s infrastructure has been battered, with power cuts rampant in the country and some 90% of its population living in poverty. About half the population won’t know where its next meal will come from, as inflation surges.

The pressure to lift sanctions has mounted in recent years as aid agencies continue to cut programs due to donor fatigue and a massive 2023 earthquake that rocked Syria and Türkiye. The tremor killed over 59,000 people and destroyed critical infrastructure that couldn’t be fixed due to sanctions and overcompliance, despite the US announcing some humanitarian exemptions.