The United States is urging the United Nations Security Council to remove sanctions against Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and his government officials, as a landmark visit to the White House looms.

A draft resolution, which was shared with The Associated Press on Wednesday, reveals that the U.S. is advocating for the 15-member council to lift sanctions on al-Sharaa and Syria’s Interior Minister, Anas Hasan Khattab.

According to a source familiar with the situation, who requested anonymity due to the confidentiality of the discussions, the resolution might be up for a vote as soon as this week.

For the resolution to pass, it requires the endorsement of at least nine members, with no opposition from any of the five permanent members—China, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States.

U.S. officials seem keen to see the resolution enacted before President Donald Trump welcomes al-Sharaa to Washington on Monday. This visit marks the first occasion a Syrian president has traveled to Washington since Syria achieved independence in 1946.

While al-Sharaa is in Washington, Syria is expected to join the US-led anti–Islamic State coalition, which includes some 80 countries working to prevent a resurgence of the extremist group.

The effort is part of Trump’s strategy to rebuild relations with Syria after the 50-year rule of the Assad family came to an end in December when then-President Bashar Assad was ousted in a lightning offensive led by al-Sharaa. Assad’s fall also brought to an end nearly 14 years of civil war.

Since then, al-Sharaa has sought to restore ties with Arab countries and the West, where officials were initially wary of his past ties with the al-Qaida militant group. The rebel group he formerly led, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, was previously designated by the US as a terrorist group.

Trump met al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia in May and announced that he would lift decades of sanctions against the war-torn country. He followed through by ordering a large swath of sanctions lifted or waived.

However, the most stringent sanctions were imposed by Congress in 2019 and will require a congressional vote to remove them permanently.

Syria’s conflict broke out in early 2011 and left nearly half a million people dead and millions displaced, including many who are now refugees. The war caused wide destruction, and Syria will need tens of billions of dollars to rebuild.

In May, Ramesh Rajasingham, the UN humanitarian division’s chief coordinator, told the Security Council that 90 per cent of Syrians live in poverty, with 16.5 million needing protection and humanitarian assistance, including nearly three million facing acute food insecurity.