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BEIRUT (AP) 鈥� Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani was set to raise his country鈥檚 new flag at the United Nations headquarters in New York Friday and to attend a U.N. Security Council briefing, the first public appearance by a high-ranking Syrian government official in the United States since the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a lightning rebel offensive in December.

The three-starred flag that had previously been used by opposition groups has replaced the two-starred flag of the Assad era as the country’s official emblem.

The new authorities in Damascus have been courting Washington in hopes of receiving relief from harsh sanctions that were imposed by the U.S. and its allies in the wake of Assad鈥檚 brutal crackdown on anti-government protests in 2011 that spiraled into a civil war.

A delegation of Syrian officials traveled to the United States this week to attend World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington and U.N. meetings in New York. It was unclear if Trump administration officials would meet with al-Shibani during the visit.

The Trump administration has yet to officially recognize the current Syrian government, led by Ahmad al-Sharaa, an Islamist former insurgent who led the offensive that toppled Assad. Washington has also so far left the sanctions in place, although it has provided temporary relief to some restrictions. The militant group al-Sharaa led, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, remains a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.

Two Republican members of the U.S. Congress, Rep. Marlin Stutzman of Indiana and Rep. Cory Mills of Florida, arrived in Damascus last week on an unofficial visit organized by a Syrian-American nonprofit and met with al-Sharaa and other government officials.

Mills told The Associated Press before meeting with al-Sharaa that 鈥渦ltimately, it鈥檚 going to be the president鈥檚 decision鈥� to lift sanctions or not, although he said that 鈥淐ongress can advise.鈥�

Mills later told Bloomberg News that he had discussed the U.S. conditions for sanctions relief with al-Sharaa, including ensuring the destruction of chemical weapons left over from the Assad era, coordinating on counter-terrorism, making a plan to deal with foreign militants who fought alongside the armed opposition to Assad, and providing assurances to Israel that Syria would not pose a threat.

He also said that al-Sharaa had said Syria could normalize relations with Israel 鈥渦nder the right conditions,鈥� without specifying what those conditions are.

Other Western countries have warmed up to the new Syrian authorities more quickly. The British government on Thursday lifted sanctions against a dozen Syrian entities, including government departments and media outlets, and the European Union has begun to roll back its sanctions.