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The flurry of foreign ministers rushing to visit Damascus and meet with Ahmad Al-Sharaa, the general commander of the military operation that ousted Bashar Assad, received an unlikely addition on Friday: Belarus’ Maxim Ryzhenkov. One might look at this visit the same way one looked at the visits of the German or Norwegian foreign ministers. However, such a visit has added important significance. Belarus is very close to being a client state of Russia — if it is not so already.
The takeover of power by the Syrian rebels has been smooth, with minimal casualties or destruction. Life went back to normal in no time. The security situation is acceptable. This can in no way be compared to the fall of Muammar Qaddafi in Libya, which led to chaos. Nevertheless, Syria has one big impediment: Western sanctions.
These sanctions were imposed on the Assad regime and they crippled it. Today, after Assad’s fall, the sanctions remain. They are hindering Syria’s rise from the ashes. Assad left behind a decimated country. The Syrian central bank’s foreign reserves are very low — some say as low as $200 million. The country’s infrastructure has been decimated by 14 years of war. The services are mediocre. At the same time, people’s expectations are very high. Regardless of what Al-Sharaa does with his team and regardless of what the future transitional government does, the country cannot recover as long as there are sanctions.
The logical step would be to lift sanctions now that Assad is no longer there. However, the West is very suspicious of the new leadership. Al-Sharaa has a checkered past, as he once fought for Al-Qaeda. His group, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, has been designated as a terrorist organization by many countries. Although it broke with Al-Qaeda in 2016, the fundamentalist reputation still follows it.
A trimmed beard and clean-cut suit have not made the West forget the previous look of Al-Sharaa, who some still refer to as Abu Mohammed Al-Golani. Though he has so far shown moderation since gaining power and not enforced any practices on anyone, the West is suspicious. It is mostly suspicious of the followers of his group and the repository of fundamentalist fighters in Syria.
Therefore, it is a chicken and egg situation. As long as the sanctions are in place, a full-fledged Syrian state cannot be built. On the other hand, the West does not want to empower “Islamist structures,” as the German foreign minister recently stated. Syria is deadlocked.

Europe was very happy to see the influence of Russia dwindle in the Middle East. Does it want to see that reversed?

Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib

All of the visits so far have been from countries in the Western sphere or their allies: France, Germany, Norway, Spain, ��������Ƶ, Turkiye, Qatar and Ukraine. Syria has taken a very clear pro-West position. New Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani even got invited to Davos — the first time Syria has been invited and represented at the World Economic Forum’s annual summit. Of course, it is not expected that the new government will welcome the Assad allies who are anti-West: Russia and Iran. This is why the visit of the Belarus delegation is significant. It shows that Syria wants to send a subtle message to the West: “If you do not help us, we will look for an alternative.” The Trump administration is aware of this.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, when questioned by Congress during his confirmation hearing, made it clear that the US must be pragmatic and engage with the new Syrian government because, if it does not, someone else will. He expressed reservations over the history of HTS, saying its origins do not “give us comfort.” Meanwhile, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide last week called for the removal of all sanctions on Syria. The US has issued a temporary exemption on certain sanctions. This allows the central bank in Syria to receive transfers from countries that are willing to help. But the exemption will only last six months. It is known that removing sanctions is much harder than putting them in place and America’s Caesar Act was only renewed by Congress in December and is now due to last until 2029.
Ryzhenkov’s visit came as Syria terminated its agreement with Russia to operate the port of Tartus. This is serious for Moscow. Syria provides its only access to the Mediterranean. For centuries, Russia has had a strategic interest in warm-water ports. This was one important reason for its wars with the Ottomans, which spanned four centuries. Russia wanted access to the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits to allow its Black Sea Fleet to reach the Mediterranean. Ryzhenkov could not have visited Damascus without a greenlight from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Syria is of strategic importance to Russia. The Kremlin will be keen to negotiate with the new leadership. This is an important pressure point Al-Sharaa and his administration can exert over the West. Europe was very happy to see the influence of Russia dwindle in the Middle East. Does it want to see that reversed? I doubt it. This is a chance for the West to provide the necessary support for Syria. Windows of opportunities are usually short and close if they are not grabbed at the right time.
The West must think  strategically. Instead of talking about “Islamist structures” and trying to micromanage the new administration by placing demands on it regarding the representation of women and minorities, it must think about whether it would like Syria — a country that has a very important strategic location — to be in the Western fold or Russia’s fold.

• Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. She is co-founder of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace Building, a Lebanese nongovernmental organization focused on Track II.