Washington, 21 May 2025 (dpa/MIA) – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday warned Syria's transitional government may be weeks away from collapsing.

"The transitional authority, given the challenges they're facing, are maybe weeks, not many months, away from potential collapse and a full-scale civil war of epic proportions," Rubio told a hearing of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

He called for Syria's transitional authorities to be supported.

"If you look at the history of the region, when Syria is unstable, the region becomes unstable," he said.

Rubio spoke as European Union foreign ministers decided to lift economic sanctions on Syria.

Last week, US President Donald Trump announced the lifting of all US sanctions on Syria.

Sanctions were imposed by the US and other countries in the wake of the civil war that erupted under former president Bashar al-Assad. His regime was overthrown in early December by an Islamist rebel alliance.

Despite the fall of al-Assad, instability persists. Clashes have recently erupted between the Druze minority and Sunni militias, and in early March the transitional government launched military operations in response to attacks by al-Assad loyalists.

Photo: MIA archive