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U.S. envoy: lifting Syria sanctions was meant to "give them a chance," but U.N. limits remain
Summary
Ambassador Thomas Barak said the U.S. removed certain unilateral sanctions on Syria on May 13 to allow the new Damascus government breathing room, while U.N. and Security Council restrictions and conditions on minority rights and foreign fighters remain in play.
Ambassador Thomas Barak, the U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Turkey and U.S. special envoy for Syria, said the Trump administration lifted unilateral U.S. sanctions on Syria on May 13 to “give them a chance,” but stressed that other layers of restrictions — including United Nations Security Council measures — remain and could be lifted only in pieces.
Barak told reporters at the New York Foreign Press Center that the administration’s aim was not nation‑building but to create space for Syria to transition away from an ISIS counter‑insurgency footing toward a “clean canvas” where regional normalization could be tested. “The president’s main message in taking sanctions off on May 13 was give them a chance. You can’t…
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