ANKARA: The European Union’s foreign policy chief said the 27-member bloc is ready to ease sanctions on Syria, but added the move would be a gradual one contingent on the transitional Syrian government’s actions.
Speaking during a joint news conference in Ankara with Turkiye’s foreign minister on Friday, Kaja Kallas also said the EU was considering introducing a “fallback mechanism” that would allow it to reimpose sanctions if the situation in Syria worsens.
“If we see the steps of the Syrian leadership going to the right direction, then we are also willing to ease next level of sanctions,” she said. “We also want to have a fallback mechanism. If we see that the developments are going to the wrong direction, we are also putting the sanctions back.”
The top EU diplomat said the EU would start by easing sanctions that are necessary to rebuild the country that has been battered by more than a decade of civil war.
The plan to ease sanctions on Syria would be discussed at a EU foreign ministers meeting on Monday, Kallas said.
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EU says it is ready to ease sanctions on Syria
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EU says it is ready to ease sanctions on Syria
- The top EU diplomat said the EU would start by easing sanctions that are necessary to rebuild the country
Pope receives Venezuela opposition’s Machado: Vatican
VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo received Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado at the Vatican on Monday, the Holy See said.
There were no details about the audience, with the Vatican publishing Machado’s name in a list of people received by the US pope Monday morning.
The Vatican did not immediately respond to an AFP request for more information about the meeting.
The papal audience came the same day as Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced that two Italians, Alberto Trentini and Mario Burlo, held since November 2024 in Venezuela, had been released and were on their way home.
Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in December, has been sidelined by Washington in the wake of the US intervention in Venezuela that toppled President Nicolas Maduro.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would meet Machado this week after previously saying she did not have the respect or support within Venezuela to lead.
Leo, 70, called for Venezuela’s sovereignty to be protected in a speech to diplomats on Friday.
The Chicago-born pope issued an appeal “to respect the will of the Venezuelan people, and to safeguard the human and civil rights of all” following the suggestion by US President Donald Trump that the US could control the South American country for years.
The Vatican’s chief diplomat Pietro Parolin, a former papal envoy to Venezuela, spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week.
The two discussed “efforts to improve the humanitarian situation, particularly in Venezuela,” the US Department of State said in a statement.
There were no details about the audience, with the Vatican publishing Machado’s name in a list of people received by the US pope Monday morning.
The Vatican did not immediately respond to an AFP request for more information about the meeting.
The papal audience came the same day as Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced that two Italians, Alberto Trentini and Mario Burlo, held since November 2024 in Venezuela, had been released and were on their way home.
Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in December, has been sidelined by Washington in the wake of the US intervention in Venezuela that toppled President Nicolas Maduro.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would meet Machado this week after previously saying she did not have the respect or support within Venezuela to lead.
Leo, 70, called for Venezuela’s sovereignty to be protected in a speech to diplomats on Friday.
The Chicago-born pope issued an appeal “to respect the will of the Venezuelan people, and to safeguard the human and civil rights of all” following the suggestion by US President Donald Trump that the US could control the South American country for years.
The Vatican’s chief diplomat Pietro Parolin, a former papal envoy to Venezuela, spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week.
The two discussed “efforts to improve the humanitarian situation, particularly in Venezuela,” the US Department of State said in a statement.
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