The French and German foreign ministers have met Syria’s new leaders and called for an inclusive transition of power, in the first visit by European Union ministers to Syria since the Assad regime fell in December.

The foreign ministers from Germany and France arrived in Damascus on Friday morning for talks with the transitional government formed by the militant groups that drove former Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad from the country.

Syria's new de facto ruler and leader of the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) received an EU delegation led by German Foreign Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on Friday.