EU will not lift Syria sanctions for now, top official says

The EU will not lift sanctions on Syria before its new rulers ensure minorities are not persecuted and women's rights are protected within a unified government that disavows religious extremism, the EU's top diplomat said.

An EU foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels on Monday, which had Syria on the agenda, would not discuss expanding financial support to the country beyond that already provided by the EU through United Nations agencies, the European Union's new foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said.

"One of the questions is whether we are able to, in the future, look at the adaptation of the sanctions regime. But this clearly is not the question of today, but rather in the future where we have seen that the steps go in the right direction," Kallas told Reuters in an interview.

While the EU has in place a tough sanctions regime against Syria, the rebel group that led the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad - Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham - has also been under sanctions for years, complicating matters for the international community.

The EU was already the biggest donor of humanitarian aid to Syria, Kallas said.

"We need to discuss what more can we do. But as I say, it can't come as a blank cheque," Kallas added.