EU foreign ministers have decided to suspend a series of tough sanctions against Syria to help the country's economic recovery and reconstruction after nearly 14 years of civil war, Euronews reported.

The Council removed five financial institutions from the list of entities subject to the freeze on funds and economic resources and allowed funds and economic resources to be provided to the Central Bank of Syria.

The EU also suspended sectoral measures in the oil, gas, electricity and transportation sectors, and introduced exceptions to the ban on banking relations between Syrian banks and financial institutions in the EU to facilitate transactions for humanitarian and reconstruction purposes, as well as in the energy and transportation sectors.

The bloc will monitor the situation in the country to ensure that the suspension of sanctions remains appropriate. Kaja Kallas, the EU's chief diplomat, emphasized that “if things go wrong, we are also ready to bring sanctions back.”