Trump ends Syria sanctions ahead of meeting with new regime

May 13, 2025

Syrians set off fireworks during celebrations in Clock Square in the center of Idlib city, after US President Donald Trump's decision to lift sanctions on Syria.

DPA / Picture Alliance

US President Donald Trump announced that he will lift sanctions on Damascus ahead of his meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Wednesday, to help the country “move forward” from its devastating civil war.

Turning a new leaf: Deposed dictator Bashar al-Assad had long been sanctioned for terrorism and human rights abuses. Syria’s new leadership has pushed for those restrictions to end, as they further crippled the Levantine country’s war-ravaged economy.

Why it matters: Trump’s decision paves the way for other Western countries to follow suit.

Mining for peace: can a US-brokered deal end the conflict in the DRC?

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with Democratic Republic of the Congo's Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner and Rwanda's Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe on June 27, 2025.

REUTERS

On June 27, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda signed a US-mediated peace accord in Washington, D.C., to end decades of violence in the DRC’s resource-rich Great Lakes region. The agreement commits both nations to cease hostilities, withdraw troops, and to end support for armed groups operating in eastern Congowithin 90 days.

Why life sciences are critical to national security

What if the next virus isn’t natural, but deliberately engineered and used as a weapon? As geopolitical tensions rise and biological threats become more complex, health security and life sciences are emerging as critical pillars of national defense. In the premiere episode of “The Ripple Effect: Investing in Life Sciences”, leading experts explore the dual-use nature of biotechnology and the urgent need for international oversight, genetic attribution standards, and robust viral surveillance.

What We’re Watching: Budapest Pride parade, Rwanda and DRC peace agreement, SCOTUS ruling on Trump’s executive power

A woman lights a cigarette placed in a placard depicting Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, during a demonstration, after the Hungarian parliament passed a law that bans LGBTQ+ communities from holding the annual Pride march and allows a broader constraint on freedom of assembly, in Budapest, Hungary, on March 25, 2025.

REUTERS/Marton Monus

Hungary’s capital will proceed with Saturday’s Pride parade celebrating the LGBTQ+ community, despite the rightwing national government’s recent ban on the event.

Trump ends Syria sanctions ahead of meeting with new regime

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Hungary’s capital will proceed with Saturday’s Pride parade celebrating the LGBTQ+ community, despite the rightwing national government’s recent ban on the event.

Trump ends Syria sanctions ahead of meeting with new regime

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More from GZERO Media

In this episode of Ian Bremmer’s Quick Take, Ian digs into the surprise Democratic primary victory of Zohran Mamdani in New York’s mayoral race and why it might be “an early signal of something much bigger in the United States.”

Hong Kong’s League of Social Democrats, the last active pro-democracy party in the Chinese-controlled territory, announced on Sunday that it was disbanding.

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"Thought we were bros"

In this episode of Europe in :60, Carl Bildt discusses the outcomes of the NATO Summit and where Europe stands with the Israel-Iran conflict.

Hungary’s capital will proceed with Saturday’s Pride parade celebrating the LGBTQ+ community, despite the rightwing national government’s recent ban on the event.