Cyprus is actively pursuing “good neighbourly relations” with Syria, Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said on Thursday.

Speaking to state broadcaster CyBC, Kombos referred to the announcement by US President Donald Trump on Wednesday that sanctions against Syria would be lifted, calling it a move with “tremendous symbolic value” that paves the way for renewed engagement with the country under its current leadership, Ahmed al-Sharaa.

“From the outset, Cyprus accurately assessed the situation in Syria,” Kombos said, noting that he visited the country in February and met with its new leadership.

“We expressed our concerns in a timely manner to the EU regarding the conditions for lifting sanctions, but we also supported the start of a rapprochement,” he added.

Kombos said Cyprus had “positioned itself positively” in EU working groups on the issue.

“We never withdrew our diplomatic mission from Syria and were one of only seven EU member states to maintain a presence there,” he noted, referring to the Cypriot mission currently operating in Damascus.

“There are contacts at various levels, and these will continue at higher levels,” Kombos said, not ruling out future state visits.

“Syria is not only a potential source of problems, but also a neighbour just 64 nautical miles from our shores,” he said. “We are obliged to support the lifting of sanctions, based on specific conditions.”

On Wednesday two boats carrying Syrian migrants were intercepted and returned to Syria without entering the Republic’s ports and being provided access to asylum procedures.

Deputy Minister of Migration Nicholas Ioannides told local media that the response was in line with a bilateral agreement on irregular migration signed between the Republic of Cyprus and Syria’s new administration.

According to this agreement, Syria will take back its nationals who are intercepted as they attempt to reach Cyprus by sea. More details about its contents have yet to be disclosed.

Ioannides claimed that most Syrians currently seeking asylum in Cyprus are not legitimate refugees but are instead seeking illegal employment and supporting organised trafficking networks.

He added that illegal employment agencies are profiting by arranging undeclared work for new arrivals, despite the law prohibiting asylum seekers from working during their first nine months in the country.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) Cyprus told the Cyprus Mail that it was aware of the incident and is seeking clarification.