Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) attends a reception with United Nations Security Council delegation at the Presidential Palace in Damascus. AFP
The delegation arrived via the Jdeidet Yabus border crossing between Lebanon and Syria and "is scheduled to meet a number of Syrian officials" and members of civil society, state news agency SANA reported.
Shortly after, the agency said the delegation was visiting Damascus's heavily damaged suburb of Jobar.
The diplomats are expected to meet Syria's new authorities including President Ahmed al-Sharaa and are to visit neighbouring Lebanon on Friday and Saturday.
While the United Nations works to reestablish itself in Syria, the Security Council recently lifted sanctions against interim leader Sharaa, a former jihadist whose forces led the offensive that ousted Assad on December 8 last year.
The UN has urged an inclusive transition in the multi-ethnic and multi-confessional country after nearly 14 years of civil war.
Slovenian UN ambassador Samuel Zbogar told a press conference on Monday that "the visit to Syria and Lebanon is the first official visit of the Security Council to the Middle East in six years, the first visit to Syria ever".
Slovenia currently holds the rotating presidency of the UN's top body.
The trip comes "at a crucial time for the region" and for both countries, Zbogar said, noting the new authorities' efforts towards Syria's transition as well as a year-old ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, "which we see daily that is being challenged". Israel has routinely violated the ongoing truce since it came into effect in November 2024.
Zbogar added that the visit is important in "expressing support and solidarity with both countries, and learning about the challenges, conveying the messages, also, on the path forward that the council would like to see in both countries".
"There's still a bit of lack of trust in the UN-Syria relationship, which we try to breach with this visit," he noted.
The delegation will also "convey messages what we expect from Syria regarding inclusivity, fighting against terrorism and other elements", added the diplomat.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday that "we very much hope that the visit will increase the dialogue between the United Nations and Syria."
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