Hadja Lahbib received a red carpet welcome last week when she became the first European commissioner to visit Damascus, Syria's capital, and meet with the country's new leaders after the toppling of Bashar Assad last month.

How the EU moves forward on amending its sanctions regime is closely scrutinised after the US eased restrictions on Syria to increase humanitarian aid earlier this month. No such

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. EU foreign ministers will discuss the situation in Syria during a meeting in Brussels on Jan.

EU sanctions include bans on oil imports from Syria, as well as a ban on investment in the Syrian oil industry and a freeze on any Syrian central bank assets in the EU. The proposed roadmap indicates some existing sanctions, including those related to arms and entities linked to the Assad regime, would not be suspended.

Six member states of the European Union have called for the bloc to temporarily suspend sanctions on Syria in areas such as transport, energy and banking, according to a paper seen by Reuters.

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,

The E.U. is moving to ease sanctions in a bid to sway how HTS leads Syria’s transition and to further curb Russian influence in the region, diplomats told The Post.

The new administration's approach to governing must include "different groups" and women, and "no radicalization", the European Union's foreign-policy chief said.