State Department offers no timeline after president says U.S. will cease Syria sanctions

President Donald Trump said he is ordering the cessation of sanctions on Syria, but at a State Department briefing Tommy Pigott declined to provide a timeline or further details about how and when any sanctions would be lifted.

Pigott said the president has spoken about the matter and the administration wants a prosperous region; in response to reporters he said, “I have nothing additional to preview,” and referred listeners to the president’s remarks.

Reporters asked whether the United States was pressing the U.N. Security Council or other bodies to lift sanctions on specific groups. Pigott again declined to preview further steps from the podium, saying the administration’s aim is a region with “peace and prosperity” and that Secretary Rubio will continue diplomatic engagement in the region.

When asked about the substance of a planned meeting between Secretary Rubio and Syrian foreign minister Al Shaiban in Turkey later this week, Pigott again pointed reporters to the president’s speech and said the administration has communicated expectations to Syrian interim authorities and “we hope that they do take those actions.” Pigott did not describe specific preconditions or legal steps tied to any sanctions change.

The State Department did not cite statutes or formal instruments at the briefing and provided no timeline for further announcements.