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France to Host Syria Meeting with Arab, Turkish, Western Partners in January

This aerial view shows people celebrating the ouster of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, around the New Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the center of Homs on December 18, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows people celebrating the ouster of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, around the New Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the center of Homs on December 18, 2024. (AFP)
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France to Host Syria Meeting with Arab, Turkish, Western Partners in January

This aerial view shows people celebrating the ouster of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, around the New Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the center of Homs on December 18, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows people celebrating the ouster of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, around the New Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the center of Homs on December 18, 2024. (AFP)

France will host a meeting on Syria with Arab, Turkish, western partners in January, said France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Wednesday.

The meeting will be a follow-up to the one held in Jordan last week.

Speaking in parliament, Barrot added that reconstruction aid and the lifting of sanctions in Syria would depend on clear political and security commitments by the new authorities.

The new Syrian transition authorities will not be judged on words, but on actions over time, he stressed.

Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron and Turkiye's Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed that the transition in Syria should be respectful of the rights of all communities in the country, the French presidency said after the leaders spoke by phone on Wednesday.

"They expressed their wish that a peaceful and representative political transition, in accordance with the principles of resolution 2254, respectful of the fundamental rights of all communities in Syria, be conducted as soon as possible," an Elysee statement said, referring to a United Nations Security Council resolution.  

Barrot added that fighting in northeastern Syrian cities of Manbij and Kobane must stop immediately.

France is working to find deal between Turks and Kurds in Syria’s northeast that meets interests of both sides, he revealed.

Macron made clear in his call with Erdogan that Kurdish Syrians needed to be fully-integrated in political transition process, continued the FM.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces must be part of the political transition process, he urged.

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Syria’s Sharaa Urged the US to Lift Sanctions

FILE - Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, looks on during a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, Feb. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)
FILE - Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, looks on during a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, Feb. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)
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Syria’s Sharaa Urged the US to Lift Sanctions

FILE - Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, looks on during a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, Feb. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)
FILE - Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, looks on during a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, Feb. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa has urged the United States to lift sanctions and alluded to the possibility of future military support from Russia and Türkiye.

Over a 45-minute interview with The New York Times, al-Sharaa made a plea to Washington to lift sanctions, saying it would be logical now that the old government is out.

“The sanctions were implemented as a response to crimes committed by the previous regime against the people,” he said.

Last month, American officials listed eight demands for lifting sanctions, according to two officials with knowledge of the issue. They include destroying any remaining chemical weapons stores and cooperating on counterterrorism efforts.

Al-Sharaa said that some American conditions “need to be discussed or modified” and declined to elaborate further.

He also told The New York Times that his government is negotiating deals with both Türkiye, a longtime political backer, and Russia, a stalwart supporter of Bashar al-Assad when he was in power. He alluded to the possibility of future military support from both.

“Türkiye has a military presence in Syria and Russia also has a military presence. We’ve nullified past agreements between Syria and other countries, and are in the process of developing new ones,” he said. Al-Sharaa appeared open to procuring additional weapons from Russia and other countries.

He also suggested his government would consider giving Syrian citizenship to foreign fighters who have lived in the country for years, are in some cases married to Syrian citizens and “who have stuck beside the revolution.”

Al-Sharaa has sought to assuage concerns, pledging to prevent Syrian land from being used to threaten any foreign country.

“Syria has been committed from the beginning, before we reached Damascus, to preventing its land from being used in any way that can threaten any foreign country,” he said.