European Union foreign ministers have agreed to begin lifting sanctions on Syria, but insist that the measures should be reimposed if they see any abuses by the country’s new rulers.

European foreign ministers agreed on a “road map” to lift financial restrictions, but the change will happen in stages.

European Union foreign ministers have agreed on a roadmap to ease sanctions on Syria, the bloc's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday.

A six-phase “road map” prepared by the EU’s foreign service advocates a “staged approach” to lifting sanctions on the country “to incentivise peaceful transition and reconstruction”. An arms embargo, sanctions on equipment used for internal repression and measures targeting Assad regime officials would be exempt, the document states.

EU foreign ministers on Monday agreed to begin easing sanctions on Syria after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad, as the West looks to build bridges with the war-ravaged country's new leadership. "This could give a boost to the Syrian economy and help the country get back on its feet,

Some European Union sanctions against Syria are being lifted, France's foreign minister said on Monday, as part of a broader EU move to help stabilise Damascus after the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad in December.

The European Union agreed on Monday to start easing sanctions on Syria in light of the ousting of President Bashar Assad in December.

The European Union may soon suspend sanctions on Syria related to energy and transport but has yet to agree on whether to ease restrictions on financial transactions, according to three diplomats and a document seen by Reuters.