US does not intend to back normalization efforts with Syria: Blinken

WASHINGTON

Washington does not intend to support any normalization effort with Syria's Bashar al-Assad unless there is progress on a political solution to the 10-year crisis there, the US’ top diplomat said Wednesday.

Antony Blinken was speaking at a joint news conference following a bilateral summit with his counterparts from Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

He said the Biden administration's focus in Syria was on providing humanitarian access for those in need, sustaining the campaign against the Daesh/ISIS terror group and demanding accountability from the Assad regime.

"And what we do not intend to do is to express any support for efforts to normalize relations or rehabilitate Mr. Assad or lift a single sanction on Syria or change our position to oppose the reconstruction of Syria until there is irreversible progress toward a political solution, which we believe is necessary and vital," he said.

Syria has been mired in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

During the past decade, around half a million people have been killed and more than 12 million had to flee their homes.