Syria Strategy: In the 13th anniversary of the war in Syria… the United States conferring its firm position towards Damascus
A symposium to launch the Syria Strategy was held by the Atlantic Council in cooperation with the Middle East Institute and the European Institute for Peace, in addition to the civil society network, in the occasion of the 13th anniversary of the war in Syria.
Barbara Leaf, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, confirmed that the political situation has reached a dead end, with the humanitarian situation continuing to deteriorate significantly.
Regarding the possible rapprochement between Syria and the Arab countries and the possibility of Damascus returning to the League of Arab States, the US official indicated that the United States warned against this step, stressing that her country’s position towards normalization with Damascus hasn’t changed.
Regarding the sanctions imposed by Washington and the European Union on Syria, Leaf stressed that these sanctions only target the Syrian regime, noting that they move away from the Syrian people.
This symposium comes at a time when the anniversary of the war in Syria comes, which left a completely different economic and field reality than it was before.
By this date, as the war in Syria entered its thirteenth year, Syrian government forces were able to regain control over large areas of Syria, with the support of Russia and Iran, while it is still armed factions under the banner of the Syrian national army, backed by Türkiye controls regions in northern Syria, while the Kurdish affiliated Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) controls areas of the eastern Euphrates and north eastern Syria, backed by the US forces, while areas of Idlib governance, is under the control of the Hay’at Tahrir al Sham (formerly known as Nusra Front).
