The United States has prepared a draft resolution for the UN Security Council proposing to lift sanctions against Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa and interior minister Anas Khattab. This was reported by
For the resolution to be approved, a minimum of nine votes in favour and no veto from the permanent members of the UN Security Council: Russia, China, the United States, France and the United Kingdom, are required. At this point, it has not been announced when the document will be put to a vote.
Ahmed al-Sharaa will arrive in Washington on 10 November, his first visit to the United States. According to Reuters, the Sanctions Committee has already granted him permission to travel, so the visit will take place even if the resolution fails. Washington is trying to assert its presence in Syria and regain the influence it has lost over years of vacillation in American foreign policy. The US is clearly not prepared to leave the region within the sphere of influence of Moscow and Tehran.
Al-Sharaa has already visited Moscow. On 15 October, he met with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin. The new Syrian leader openly stated that Russia would play ‘a serious role in the development of the new Syria.’ The main issue between Moscow and Damascus is the continued use of Russian military facilities: the naval base in Tartus and the airbase in Hmeimim. These facilities allow Russia to control the eastern Mediterranean and maintain a military presence in the region.
Ahmed al-Sharaa took office as transitional president of Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in early December 2024, when armed opposition groups entered Damascus.
