Speaking to Argus on the sidelines of the Munich
Security Conference, representative for foreign affairs Kaja KallasKallas said
the prospect of lifting sanctions on Syria looked promising.
France on February 14 convened an international conference
on Syria in Paris, bringing together representatives from G7 nations, the EU,
the UN, the Arab League, and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
The participants issued a final statement calling for
support of Syria's political transition, but the US did not join that
statement.
The US sources told Argus that the issues raised
in the statement are things Washington has not decided on, since US president
Donald Trump's administration is still formulating its policy regarding Syria.
Another source with knowledge of ongoing European talks
on Syria said Greece and Cyprus are more reluctant to lift sanctions on
Syria. Any EU action will have to be agreed upon by all of the bloc's members.
Both countries are leery of ties between Turkey and the
Syrian Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the dominant faction in the
new Syrian government.
Greece and Cyprus are worried about an oversized Turkish
influence in the eastern Mediterranean following the collapse of the regime of
Bashar al-Assad in December.
Sanctions remain one of the biggest obstacles to Syria's
recovery.
Damascus has been struggling to secure crude and refined oil
products through public tenders largely because of those sanctions.
Shipowners remain cautious about sending vessels there
over concerns tankers being sanctioned or stranded.
Last month the US waived sanctions prohibiting energy trade
with Syria, but the country is still under EU and British sanctions, which may
have narrowed the pool for bidding.
