Germany’s foreign minister has pushed back at claims of a “handshake scandal” after Syria’s de facto leader failed to shake her hand at a meeting in Damascus.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Sunday said he would have preferred if Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa had shaken the hand of his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock on their visit to Syria last week,

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.