European foreign ministers will meet at the end of January to discuss the lifting of sanctions on Syria, the EU foreign policy chief said Sunday in Riyadh ahead of a meeting of top Middle Eastern and Western diplomats and Syria's new foreign minister.
Kaja Kallas, the EU foreign policy chief, said the foreign ministers would convene in Brussels on Jan. 27 to decide how the 27-nation bloc would relax sanctions on Syria.
After 13 years of civil war, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad was ousted in a lightning offensive by insurgent forces led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) a month ago.
But the new reality in Syria has been complicated by sanctions on HTS — and some leaders — for its days as an al-Qaeda affiliate.
Germany, which is leading the EU's discussion on sanctions, proposed Sunday to allow relief for the Syrian population, but retaining sanctions on Assad allies who "committed serious crimes" during Syria's war.

EU foreign ministers to tackle Syria sanctions relief at end of month