U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Syria may be weeks away from plunging into another civil war or collapsing altogether.
Rubio, who met with top Syrian officials last week during U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East trip, said fears for the fledgling Damascus government were the main reason Trump abruptly opted to implement a 180-day waiver on sanctions last week following his meeting in Saudi Arabia with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
“It is our assessment that, frankly, the transitional authority, given the challenges they’re facing, are maybe weeks - not many months - away from potential collapse and a full-scale civil war of epic proportions, basically the country splitting up,” Rubio said.
According to the official, the lifting of the sanctions alone “won’t be enough” to stabilize Syria and suggested “there’s going to have to be something done congressionally or more comprehensively” to revive the beleaguered nation.
