This handout photo provided by Syria's Interim Government shows UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen meeting with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, now using his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on December 15, 2024. Photo by SYRIAN INTERIM GOVERNMENT / AFP.
Brussels, Belgium: EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Monday the bloc's envoy to Syria was going to Damascus to talk to the new Islamist-led leadership, as Western powers stepped up engagement after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad.
"Our top diplomat in Syria will go to Damascus today. We'll have the contacts there," Kallas told journalists ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
