German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Europe will support Syria’s transitional government if the political talks include all ethnic and religious groups in the country. Lifting EU sanctions will depend on the political process going forward, she added.

German and French Foreign Ministers met Friday members of the new Syria’s leadership in Damascus, the first visit by EU top diplomats since the fall of the Assad regime.

Annalena Baerbock and Jean-Noel Barrot met with Syria’s de facto leader and head of Sunni Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group Ahmad al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani.

Baerbock said Europe will support Syria’s transitional government if the political talks include all ethnic and religious groups in the country. Lifting EU sanctions will depend on the political process going forward, she said.

“A political new beginning between Europe and Syria, between Germany and Syria, is possible,” Baerbock told reporters.

The German Foreign Minister and Barrot traveled to Damascus “to discuss whether such an inclusive political process is possible and whether human rights can truly be guaranteed.

“Europe will support” Syria in its transition “but Europe will not finance new Islamist structures,” Baerbock told reporters.

Barrot expressed hope for a “sovereign, stable and peaceful” Syria. It was also a “hope that the aspirations of all Syrians can be realized,” he added, “but it is a fragile hope.”