The foreign minister of Syria's new interim government stood side by side with the EU's foreign affairs chief as officials from dozens of countries crammed together for a family photo at an international donor drive in Brussels on Monday.

Asaad Al-Shibani's front-and-center spot showed how Syrian authorities' efforts to shed their extremist image are paying off in the European Union. In the early days after the ouster of former dictator Bashar Assad, the EU wouldn't even pick up the phone to the Islamist rebels who toppled him.

But the optimism of those early days has also been replaced by some bleaker realities in Syria.

Deadly sectarian violence in coastal areas has sparked fears of even more death and instability; and rebuilding after decades of dictatorship and civil war is proving far from easy — especially with the country remaining largely cut off from international financial systems.

The EU-led donor drive drummed up some €5.8 billion ($6.3 billion) in grants and loans to support Syria and neighboring countries. Germany pledged €300 million, while the EU upped its overall contribution to some €2.12 billion.

Kathryn Achilles of the Norwegian Refugee Council called the pledges a "demonstration of global solidarity for the Syrian people" which must "be a starting point for continued support."

But the total amount generated was significantly less than last year's edition of the conference, which drew some €7.5 billion. And in line with recent US aid cuts, Washington signaled little appetite to boost its support.

"We will continue to provide certain assistance in line with US policies and laws, but we also now expect that other nations are going to help shoulder the financial burden the United States has long carried," US envoy Natasha Franceschi said on Monday in Brussels.

Sources on the sidelines of the talks attributed the overall drop to stretched public coffers, and governments sticking to a cautious line when it comes to lending more support to those now in power in Damascus — particularly in light of recent coastal clashes.

Outside the donor diplomacy, the EU faced a key question ahead of Monday's event: Should that violence prompt the bloc to step back, or should it continue its plan to engage with the new authorities and gradually suspend sanctions imposed on Syria over Assad-era violations?

And ministers seemed to reach an almost uncharacteristically quick consensus.

"At this moment, if we want to prevent further violence, we need to give the people hope in Syria," EU High Representative Kaja Kallas said on Monday when pressed by DW on the way ahead.

She warned that Syrians being unable to work and propser would lead to chaos. "Chaos could create civil war," she added.

"Right now, we are going with our plan to relieve the sanctions. But of course, we are keeping a very, very close eye on the actions taken by Syria's new leadership."

"How they are reacting and prosecuting the people who conducted this violent massacre in the coastal areas. I think this is very important to see," Kallas said.

Syrian authorities have set up an independent committee to investigate the sectarian killings and vowed to hold perpetrators accountable. "Let's see if this commission has teeth," one EU diplomat said when asked what they made of Damascus' response.

So far Brussels has lifted some restrictions, including on Syrian airlines and on investments in energy and infrastructure. But it's still impossible for Syrians in Europe to send money to relatives in the country through ordinary banks due to broader sectoral sanctions — and EU officials acknowledge EU relief has yet to generate major changes on the ground.

On Monday, Syrian interim Foreign Minister Al-Shibani said the EU's moves "did not live up to … expectations" and pressed for further relief.

"These sanctions were imposed on the old regime, therefore we are punished for something we have not done," he added.

Even if Brussels were to lift all restrictions overnight, most US sanctions on Syria remain in place — and that makes a major difference. Because unlike the EU, the US applies its sanctions outside its own territory.

"There is a problem with over compliance, because inevitably, banks, especially in view of the American sanctions, they tend to adopt an extremely cautious attitude vis-a-vis whatever is related to Syria," explained one EU official who spoke ahead of Monday's conference. "Many financial institutions simply don't want to deal with it."

EU sources say they're still trying to figure out Washington's intentions when it comes to Damascus, with the Trump administration's diplomatic blitz largely centering on Ukraine and Gaza so far.

And the US gave little away at Monday's talks in Brussels.

"While we may consider other steps that would facilitate private sector growth in Syria, the reality is that we cannot realistically expect investors to invest in a country where leaders choose violent extremism or abuse of human rights," US envoy Franceschi said.

"In that case, no amount of foreign assistance or sanctions relief will be enough. And we very much hope that Syria's leaders choose wisely."

Humanitarian groups, meanwhile, say private investors will likely have to step up.

"With the global economic situation, the actual resources available to invest in Syria from the governments would most likely be limited. That means the conditions need to be created for the private sector," International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Secretary General Jagan Chapagain told DW in Brussels.

"As long as the sanctions are not relaxed enough for these people to see that their investment will actually produce a return on investment, rebuilding Syria would be extremely, extremely difficult and very, very slow."

"I do hope that the Syrian government would be able to convince some of the skeptical governments that actually they mean business, and they can demonstrate through action that they are moving into the right direction," Red Cross chief Chapagain added.

"People's frustration can grow when the expectations are not met for so long."

Edited by: Wesley Dockery