Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 December 2024 to Question 19304 on Syria: Armed Conflict, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of those discussions in ensuring a peaceful transfer of power in Syria.

Intensive diplomatic engagement with Syria continues. The Foreign Secretary and I continue to engage with our regional and international partners. The Foreign Secretary recently underlined the importance of an inclusive political process with interim Foreign Minister Al Shaybani during a meeting in Riyadh on 12 January. In addition, senior Foreign Office officials travelled to Damascus in December 2024 to meet with the leader of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham and interim Minister for Foreign Affairs. They reiterated the UK's support for the Syrian people and discussed the pathway to a more hopeful, representative and peaceful future for Syria. We will continue to call on all parties to preserve Syria's territorial integrity and national unity and respect its independence and sovereignty.