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.

France will work in the next weeks to convince European countries to lift more sanctions from Syria on June 1, French President Emmanuel Macron said in Paris, alongside with Syrian leader Ahmad Al Shara.

During the meeting, Macron will reaffirm France's support for the construction of a "free, stable and sovereign Syria that respects all the components of the Syrian society," the statement said. Sharaa in February received an invitation from French President Emmanuel Macron to visit France in the "coming weeks.