Damascus Aims to Resolve its Foreign Disputes by End of 2025

Asharq Al-Awsat

2 days ago

Syria said it aims to resolve all outstanding foreign policy disputes by the end of the year, in a move that follows Washington's decision to fully lift sanctions on Damascus.
Qutaiba Idlbi, Director of US Affairs at Syria's Foreign Ministry, told state television on Tuesday that Syria is 'working to zero out its external problems by the end of this year and open a new chapter with the international community.'
His comments come amid reports of a potential Syrian-Israeli agreement before year-end.
The statement follows US President Donald Trump's move to lift all sanctions on Syria, an unprecedented decision welcomed by Damascus as a turning point.
Idlbi said the move was a response to 'the efforts led by the Syrian government,' calling it 'the start of a path whose results Syrians will feel in their daily lives soon.'
Syrian Finance Minister Mohammad Yassar Barniyeh described the US decision as 'a major and important step' that will positively impact the country's economy. He said the government was determined to 'seize every opportunity, strengthen financial management and promote transparency.'
Syria's Central Bank Governor, Abdelkader Hasriyeh, also praised the US move, calling it a 'historic development and a decisive step' toward Syria's economic recovery.
'The United States saw in Syria's fundamental transformation a rare and timely opportunity to reorder the region,' said Abdul Hamid Tawfiq, a political analyst, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat.
He said Syria's exit from the anti-American axis it had been part of for over five decades marked the beginning of a realignment under US influence.
According to Tawfiq, Washington had long managed the Syrian crisis, before and during the uprising, through calculated diplomacy, with a strategic view of Syria's importance.
'The US has handled the Syrian file with considerable finesse and a keen reading of shifting interests. Syria became a key test case for reshaping the entire Middle East,' he said.
He added that reintegrating Syria, given its geopolitical and strategic weight, into the US sphere of influence would require ending hostilities between Syria and Israel, as well as between Israel and certain Arab capitals.
Tawfiq said the lifting of sanctions followed 'clear and serious understandings' between Damascus and Washington, including commitments from Syria to distance itself from Iran, reduce Russian influence, expel Palestinian factions from the capital, and align with US-led efforts against terrorist groups such as ISIS.
Washington's enthusiasm over Syria's policy shift reflects a broader US strategic agenda in the region, one that ultimately serves Israeli interests, according to Tawfiq.
He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the full lifting of US sanctions could be 'a starting point for a negotiation process aimed at achieving long-awaited peace between Syria and Israel,' given Syria's pivotal role in the region's stability.
'If Syria takes a step toward Israel, whether through formal negotiations, new security arrangements that safeguard mutual interests, freezing the frontlines, or establishing a level of security coordination, it will have a stabilizing effect on Syria and the wider region,' he said.
The key question, Tawfiq noted, is whether any upcoming negotiations would be based on international resolutions that affirm the Golan Heights as Syrian territory occupied by Israel, particularly UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, or whether a new, US-brokered formula will emerge.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had earlier said Washington is taking additional steps to support a stable, unified Syria that can live in peace with itself and its neighbors, adding that sanctions 'will not stand in the way of Syria's future.'
Damascus has also announced it is moving away from the foreign policy legacy of the previous regime, which it says turned Syria into 'the region's biggest blackmailing power' in pursuit of narrow interests, according to Idlbi.
In remarks carried by state media, Idlbi said Syria is taking steps to dismantle the remnants of that approach and reaffirm its commitment to more constructive international engagement. He pointed to Syria's cooperation on the chemical weapons file, which he said 'brought nothing but destruction and death to the Syrian people.'
Idlbi added that the coming months would see significant breakthroughs on the sanctions front, signaling growing confidence in Damascus that international restrictions will continue to ease.