In April, the UK eased sanctions on Syria including restrictions on the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Interior, national media institutions and on key sectors such as financial services and energy.164 In May, U.S. president Donald Trump announced it will lift economic sanctions on Syria.165 Trump reportedly made five key demands to al-Sharaa: to establish diplomatic relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords; expel all ’foreign terrorists’ from Syria; deport ‘Palestinian terrorists’; assist the U.S. in preventing an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) resurgence in Iraq and Syria; and take over responsibility for ISIL detention centres in northeast Syria.166 The U.S. lifted several sanctions including ‘regulations banning U.S. citizens and companies from making most financial transactions with Syrian citizens and entities’,167 and waived for six months a set of sanctions imposed in 2019 under the Caesar Act.168
In May, the EU voted to lift its remaining economic sanctions on Syria, maintaining only those related to the Assad regime or to arms and technology that might be used for internal repression.169
- 164
BBC News, UK lifts sanctions on Syrian defence ministry, 24 April 2025, url
- 165
BBC News, Trump expected to meet Syrian leader after announcing he will lift sanctions, 14 May 2025, url; CNN, Trump announces plan to lift punishing sanctions on Syria, 14 May 2025, url
- 166
Security Council Report, Syria: Briefing and Consultations, 20 May 2025, url
- 167
New York Times (The), U.S. Lifts Some Sanctions on Syria, Fulfilling a Trump Pledge, 25 May 2025, url
- 168
New York Times (The), U.S. Lifts Some Sanctions on Syria, Fulfilling a Trump Pledge, 25 May 2025, url; USDOS, Providing Sanctions Relief for the Syrian People, 23 May 2025, url
- 169
Council of the EU, Syria: Council statement on the lifting of EU economic sanctions, 20 May 2025, url