Britain restores diplomatic relations with Syria after 14 years

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Saturday, July 5, visited Syria on an official visit — the first in 14 years. This step marked the resumption of diplomatic relations between London and Damascus. This was reported by the press service of the British Foreign Office, writes UNN.

Details

Lammy announced the restoration of Britain's diplomatic relations with Syria during a visit to Damascus, which took place eight months after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's regime.

During the visit, the head of the British Foreign Office met with the transitional president of Syria, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, and the foreign minister, Assad Al-Shaibani.

During the meetings, Lammy emphasized "the importance of an inclusive and representative political transition in Syria and offered the Syrian people further UK support," the Foreign Office noted.

Among other things, the minister announced the allocation of an additional 2 million pounds sterling to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to support its work on eliminating chemical weapons in Syria.

In addition, London is allocating 94.5 million pounds sterling to provide urgent humanitarian aid to Syrians, support Syria's long-term recovery through education and livelihood provision, and support countries in the region hosting Syrian refugees.

Recall

Syria for the first time since 2011 made an international bank transfer via SWIFT, opening the door for similar operations. This was an important step towards the country's return to the global financial system amid the lifting of EU sanctions.