BRUSSELS: EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Monday the bloc’s envoy to Syria was going to Damascus to talk to the new Islamist-led rulers, as Western powers stepped up engagement after the ouster of Bashar Assad. The outreach from Brussels comes after the United States and Britain said they had made contact with the new authorities in Damascus, spearheaded by rebel group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS). Regional and international powers are jostling for influence in Syria after Assad was toppled in a lightning offensive, ending five decades of his family’s rule.