European foreign ministers agreed on a “road map” to lift financial restrictions, but the change will happen in stages.

European Union foreign ministers have agreed to begin lifting sanctions on Syria, but insist that the measures should be reimposed if they see any abuses by the country’s new rulers.

European Union foreign ministers have agreed on a roadmap to ease sanctions on Syria, the bloc's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday.

EU foreign ministers on Monday agreed to begin easing sanctions on Syria after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad, as the West looks to build bridges with the war-ravaged country's new leadership. "This could give a boost to the Syrian economy and help the country get back on its feet,

The EU foreign ministers have agreed on a roadmap to lift sanctions on Syria, contingent on the new leadership's commitment to peace and inclusion.

A six-phase “road map” prepared by the EU’s foreign service advocates a “staged approach” to lifting sanctions on the country “to incentivise peaceful transition and reconstruction”. An arms embargo, sanctions on equipment used for internal repression and measures targeting Assad regime officials would be exempt, the document states.

The European Union may soon suspend sanctions on Syria related to energy and transport but has yet to agree on whether to ease restrictions on financial transactions, according to three diplomats and a document seen by Reuters.

Under Assad, Syria became one of the most heavily sanctioned countries in the world. After Assad, the EU wants to inject fresh dynamism. View on euronews