10/06/2020

A change in the balance of power in Syria as “Caesar’s Law” approaches

WASHINGTON / NEW YORK – Following United States Special Representative for Syria James Jeffery’s virtual meeting with a number of Syrians on Monday in which he said that U.S. sanctions against Damascus, set to get stricter under the recently passed “Caesar’s Law”, have contributed to the collapse of the Syrian Pound, Jeffery stated that the Syrian regime could no longer manage an effective economic policy.

In response, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said that Jeffery’s comments constitute an explicit recognition by the U.S. of its direct responsibility for the suffering of Syrians, and that the United States “views the region with Israeli eyes”.

In light of these remarks, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov confirmed Tuesday during discussions organized by the Council of Foreign Relations devoted to Russian-U.S. relations that Russia is ready for talks with the United States on various bilateral and international issues, including Syria.

During the Council of Foreign Relations event, Ryabkov said that, We affirm our interest in improving the bilateral agreement with [the] United States, which is to prevent serious military activities and to understand about preventing serious military incidents, based on the Syrian experience.”