US Secretary of State Marco Rubio admitted that Washington may further ease sanctions against Syria, the State Department press service said following the top diplomat’s telephone conversation with his Syrian counterpart Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, EDnews reports.

According to the statement, the foreign ministers discussed the lifting of a significant portion of US sanctions against Syria. "[Rubio] affirmed he would consider further steps reviewing domestic and United Nations terrorist designations related to Syria," the State Department said. At the same time, the top US diplomat noted that Washington doesn't intend to lift sanctions against former Syrian President Bashar Assad and his associates.

On July 1, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order lifting sanctions against Syria. However, this decision does not apply to Assad and his associates. The State Department has also been instructed to consider removing Syria from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism and to examine whether to keep the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham group on the list of terrorist organizations.

At the end of November 2024, armed opposition groups launched a large-scale offensive against Syrian army positions. On December 8, they entered Damascus. Bashar Assad resigned as president and left the country. Ahmed al-Sharaa became the de facto leader of Syria. On January 29, 2025, al-Sharaa declared himself acting president for a transitional period of four to five years.