The United States last month handed Syria a list of eight conditions it wants Damascus to fulfill, including destroying any remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and ensuring foreigners are not given senior governing roles.
Syria is in desperate need of sanctions relief to kickstart an economy collapsed by 14 years of war, during which the United States, Britain and Europe imposed tough sanctions in a bid to put pressure on former president Bashar al-Assad.
In January, the US issued a six-month exemption for some sanctions to encourage aid, but this has had limited effect.
In exchange for fulfilling all the US demands, Washington would extend that suspension for two years and possibly issue another exemption, sources told Reuters in March.
Reuters was first to report that senior US official Natasha Franceschi handed the list of conditions to Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani at an in-person meeting on the sidelines of a Syria donor conference in Brussels on March 18.
Shibani, in his first address to the United Nations Security Council on Friday, sought to show that Syria was already addressing the demands, including on chemical weapons and the search for missing Americans in Syria.
His public comments were consistent with the contents of Syria's private letter to the US, an undated copy of which was seen by Reuters. Its contents have not been previously reported.
Two Western officials and a Syrian official briefed on the letter said it was consistent with the copy seen by Reuters.
In the four-page document, Syria pledges to set up a liaison office at the foreign ministry to find missing US journalist Austin Tice and details its work to tackle chemical weapons stockpiles, including closer ties with a global arms watchdog.
But it had less to say on other key demands, including removing foreign fighters and granting the US permission for counterterrorism strikes, according to the letter.
MNA/
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