• Syrian Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa meets with US Congressman Cory Mills in the People's Palace, Damascus, Syria, April 19, 2024 (SANA)

The Syrian presidency announced on Saturday that the interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa received two Republican members of the US Congress upon their arrival in Damascus last night.

The presidency that al-Sharaa received US Congressman Cory Mills at the People’s Palace in Damascus, ahead of an expected visit by the Syrian Foreign Minister to Washington, according to Syrian media sources.

Media sources reported that Mills met with the Syrian president on Friday evening, discussing the issues of US sanctions and Iran in a 90-minute meeting.

Congressman Marlin Stutzman was set to meet with the acting Syrian president on Saturday, with local Syrian media quoting him describing his visit to Syria as "a remarkable experience."

Stutzman added that "Upon my return to America, I will share the positive outcomes of the meetings I held with the Syrian government... It is crucial that we have a friendly leader in Syria, not just an ally of America," emphasizing that “we shouldn’t be afraid to talk to anybody," according to Reuters.

The US congressman also expressed his eagerness to see how Syria would handle foreign fighters and whether it would adopt a comprehensive approach to integrate the country's diverse population.

“There’s an opportunity here - these opportunities come around once in a lifetime,” Stutzman told Reuters. “I don’t want Syria pushed into the arms of China, or back into the arms of Russia and Iran.”

Syrian media sources reported that Syrian Foreign Minister Assad al-Shibani is preparing to lead a delegation to Washington for International Monetary Fund meetings and potential talks with US officials, while also noting that Arab states are actively pressuring Washington to issue visas for all members of the Syrian delegation.

US gives Syria sanction-relief conditions

The US has presented Syria with a set of conditions that Damascus must fulfill to obtain partial sanctions relief, including preventing foreigners from occupying senior government positions, according to six sources familiar with the matter cited by Reuters on March 25.

A US official and a Syrian source said that US Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Levant and Syria, Natasha Franceschi, presented these demands to Foreign Minister al-Shibani during a March 18 meeting held on the sidelines of the Syria donor conference in Brussels.

According to two US officials, a Syrian source, and additional Washington-based sources, the American conditions include Syria's complete destruction of any remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and full cooperation on counterterrorism efforts.

The United States also required that the new Syrian government abstains from putting foreign fighters in senior roles within the government, after Damascus previously appointed former foreign rebels, including Uyghurs, a Jordanian, and a Turk, to its defense ministry.

EU eases sanctions on Syria

The European Council of the European Union suspended in February several restrictive measures over the situation in Syria, adding that the decision comes as part of the EU's "efforts to support an inclusive political transition in Syria, and its swift economic recovery, reconstruction, and stabilization."

The Council indicated that the EU "aims to facilitate engagement with Syria, its people, and businesses, in key areas of energy and transport, as well as to facilitate financial and banking transactions associated with such sectors and those needed for humanitarian and reconstruction purposes."

The EU Council will suspend sanctions in the transport sector and energy sector, namely oil, gas, and electricity, in addition to removing five entities (Industrial Bank, Popular Credit Bank, Saving Bank, Agricultural Cooperative Bank, and Syrian Arab Airlines) from the list of those subject to a freeze in funds and economic assets.