U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he would lift all sanctions currently imposed on Syria.
“I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,” Trump declared during a speech to a crowd that included members of the Saudi royal family.
The announcement comes ahead of Trump’s expected meeting on Wednesday in Riyadh with Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharra. According to reports, al-Sharra was expected to propose a “Ukraine-style” minerals deal that would grant the U.S. access to Syria’s natural resources in exchange for sanctions relief, however, Tuesdays announcement of sanctions relief may undercut the need for any deal.
Trump stated that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan both urged him to lift the sanctions that had been in place since 2011.
The president also confirmed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Syria’s Foreign Minister Assad Hassan al-Shibani in Turkey later this week.
The United States first imposed sanctions on Syria in 2011 in response to the protests against the government that eventually escalated into a civil war. Although Washington continued to expand sanctions over the years, it failed to secure United Nations backing in 2017 due to vetoes by Russia and China.
Despite the sanctions, Syria's economy demonstrated some resilience throughout much of the conflict. However, the situation deteriorated sharply after the Trump administration enacted the “Caesar Sanctions” in June 2020. These measures significantly crippled Syria’s economy, devastated its industrial base, and left the government unable to begin reconstruction efforts.
Some analysts believe the severe impact of these sanctions contributed to the collapse of former President Bashar al-Assad’s government last year.
Speculation had circulated that Trump might tie any sanctions relief to Syria's normalization of relations with Israel. However, Tuesday’s announcement—made before any formal meeting with Syrian leadership—suggests that such conditions may not be part of any agenda at the moment.
Addressing the crowd in Riyadh, Trump also stated, “It’s my fervent hope, wish, and even my dream that Saudi Arabia will soon be joining the Abraham Accords, but they’ll do it on their own time.”