French President Emmanuel Macron said he would pursue the progressive lifting of European Union sanctions against Syria if Syria stuck to its current path, and added he would lobby the United States to also follow suit in this regard.

Macron has in the past said that Europeans need to work on security guarantees for Ukraine, including the possible deployment of troops in Ukraine after a ceasefire, irrespective of decisions made in Washington — a possible sign that Berlin might not be totally aligned with Paris on the role Europeans should play in Ukraine.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa will visit Paris on Wednesday, his first trip to Europe since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December, as he seeks international support for his efforts to bring greater stability to his war-shattered country.