Syria has responded in writing to a list of U.S. conditions for possible partial sanctions relief, saying it had acted on most of them but others required “mutual understandings” with Washington, according to a copy of the letter seen by Reuters.
The United States last month handed Syria a list of eight conditions it wants Damascus to fulfill, including destroying any remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and ensuring foreigners are not given senior governing roles.
Syria is in desperate need of sanctions relief to kickstart an economy collapsed by 14 years of war, during which the United States, Britain and Europe imposed tough sanctions in a bid to put pressure on former president Bashar al-Assad.
In January, the U.S. issued a six-month exemption for some sanctions to encourage aid, but this has had limited effect.
In exchange for fulfilling all the U.S. demands, Washington would extend that suspension for two years and possibly issue another exemption, sources told Reuters in March.
Reuters was first to report that senior U.S. official Natasha Franceschi handed the list of conditions to Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani at an in-person meeting on the sidelines of a Syria donor conference in Brussels on March 18.
Shibani, in his first address to the United Nations Security Council on Friday, sought to show that Syria was already addressing the demands, including on chemical weapons and the search for missing Americans in Syria.
His public comments were consistent with the contents of Syria’s private letter to the U.S., an undated copy of which was seen by Reuters. Its contents have not been previously reported.
Two Western officials and a Syrian official briefed on the letter said it was consistent with the copy seen by Reuters.
In the four-page document, Syria pledges to set up a liaison office at the foreign ministry to find missing U.S. journalist Austin Tice and details its work to tackle chemical weapons stockpiles, including closer ties with a global arms watchdog.
But it had less to say on other key demands, including removing foreign fighters and granting the U.S. permission for counterterrorism strikes, according to the letter.
A State Department spokesperson confirmed Washington had received a response from Syrian authorities to a U.S. request for them to take “specific, detailed confidence building measures”.
“We are now evaluating the response and do not have anything to share at this time,” the spokesperson said, adding that the U.S. “does not recognize any entity as the government of Syria and that any future normalization of relations will be determined by the interim authorities’ actions. ”
Syria’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The letter said Syrian officials had discussed foreign fighters with former U.S. envoy Daniel Rubinstein but that the issue “requires a broader consultative session.”
“What can be confirmed for now is that the issuance of military ranks has been suspended following the earlier announcement regarding the promotion of six individuals,” the letter says, an apparent reference to the appointment in December of foreign fighters including Uyghurs, a Jordanian and a Turk to positions in the country’s armed force.
