Great Britain restores diplomatic relations with Syria

The United Kingdom has restored diplomatic relations with Syria during the first visit to Damascus by a British foreign secretary in 14 years.

This is reported by the British government press service.

This comes eight months after the fall of Bashar al-Assadʼs regime in Syria. London will now support the Syrian government to build a secure future for Syrians and improve the security situation.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani to discuss political reform, security and counter-terrorism.

"A stable Syria is in the UKʼs interests as it reduces the risk of illegal migration, ensures the destruction of chemical weapons, combats the threat of terrorism and implements the governmentʼs plan for change," the British minister said.

The UK has also allocated additional funds — £2 million for the destruction of chemical weapons and £94.5 million for humanitarian aid, education and assistance to countries hosting Syrian refugees.

• After the overthrow of the Assad regime in December 2024, the new Syrian government began to actively improve relations with other countries. The Council of the European Union announced in February this year that the bloc would lift a number of restrictions in the context of key sectors of the Syrian economy. More details about this here.
• The EU wants to support the political transition and stabilization in the country after the overthrow of the Bashar Assad regime, so on May 20, the bloc decided to lift economic sanctions against Syria.
• Against the backdrop of the fall of the regime in the country , the United Kingdom and Japan also lifted some sanctions against a number of Syrian agencies and media. In early June, it became known that Syria would be fully connected to the international payment system SWIFT. Subsequently, the United States also lifted sanctions against Syria.

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