The United Nations Security Council has removed sanctions on Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is due to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.
The US-drafted resolution on Thursday also lifted sanctions on Syrian Interior Minister Anas Khattab. It received 14 votes in favor, while China abstained.
Washington has been urging the 15-member Security Council for months to ease Syria sanctions. Trump announced a major US policy shift in May when he said he would lift US sanctions on Syria.
"I think he's doing a very good job," Trump said later on Thursday of Sharaa. "It's a tough neighborhood, and he's a tough guy, but I got along with him very well. And a lot of progress has been made with Syria."
"We did take the sanctions off Syria in order to give them a fighting shot," he told reporters in Washington.
After 13 years of civil war, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December in a lightning offensive by opposition forces led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
Formerly known as the al-Nusra Front, HTS was al-Qaeda's official wing in Syria until breaking ties in 2016. Since May 2014, the group has been on the UN Security Council's al-Qaeda and ISIS sanctions list.
Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Moscow supported the brief, succinct resolution because it "most importantly ... reflects the interests and aspirations of the Syrian people themselves."
Russia diplomatically shielded its ally Assad during the war, casting more than a dozen vetoes at the Security Council, on many occasions backed by China. The council met several times a month throughout the war to discuss Syria's political and humanitarian situation and chemical weapons.
After years of Security Council division, Syria's UN Ambassador Ibrahim Olabi praised the decision on Thursday as a "message of support for Syrian women and men in their effort to rebuild their homeland and restore their lives."
"The new Syria will be a success story. It will be a shining model that proves that the optimal path in international relations is positive engagement and constructive cooperation. If there are concerns, Syria is fully prepared to address them with sincere intent based on mutual respect," he told the council.
