EU foreign ministers were in Brussels to discuss lifting some sanctions on Syria after the fall of Bashar Assad's regime. Foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc "aimed to move fast."

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.

European countries say they are eager to help reconstruct war-ravaged country and build bridges with its new leaders.

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.

Member countries’ foreign ministers are meeting to discuss a “road map” to lift financial restrictions, but any change will happen in stages.

France is lifting some sanctions against Syria, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told reporters on Monday as top diplomats from the European Union met in Brussels to discuss a coordinated

The European Union is considering easing sanctions on Syria to assist the new government in rebuilding the country following the fall of Bashar al-Assad, a senior EU official stated on Monday.

EU sanctions include bans on oil imports from Syria, as well as a ban on investment in the Syrian oil industry and a freeze on any Syrian central bank assets in the EU. The proposed roadmap indicates some existing sanctions, including those related to arms and entities linked to the Assad regime, would not be suspended.

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.