Syria's foreign minister Asaad al-Shibani is set to attend a donor summit for his country in Brussels on March 17, a European official told Reuters on Wednesday, the first time Syria will be formally represented at the yearly conference.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani. Reuters/Alaa Al Sukhni
Syria's foreign minister Asaad al-Shibani is set to attend a donor summit for his country in Brussels on March 17, a European official told Reuters on Wednesday, the first time Syria will be formally represented at the yearly conference.
The official said that Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa was not expected to be at the donor meeting, after a Syrian source and two diplomats had told Reuters he was expected there.
The yearly conference, hosted by the European Union, aims to "mobilise international support for an inclusive, peaceful transition" and will be the first time it is held following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad from power in December.
In the past, representatives of Syrian civil society were invited to take part in the summit - but the Syrian state was not.
Reuters
The United States encouraged its Syrian Kurdish allies to reach Monday's landmark deal with the Islamist-led government in Damascus, six sources said, an agreement that could stave off further conflict in northern Syria at a time of uncertainty over the future of U.S. forces deployed there.
Turkey is "cautiously optimistic" about an agreement between the Kurdish-led and U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Syria's new government, a Turkish official said on Tuesday, adding Ankara wanted to first see how it would be implemented.
Below are highlights from a Reuters interview with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa conducted on Monday.
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