Kerry: “there’s only a political solution”

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he would be willing to talk with Syrian President Bashar Assad to help broker a political resolution to the crisis in Syria.

Kerry, according to AP, said in an interview with CBS News that the U.S. is pushing for Assad to seriously discuss a transition strategy to help end Syria’s four-year conflict.

“We have to negotiate in the end,” Kerry said. “What we’re pushing for is to get him to come and do that, and it may require that there be increased pressure on him of various kinds.”

“We’ve made it very clear to people that we are looking at increased steps that can help bring about that pressure,” Kerry said, without elaborating on what those steps might be.

Syria’s state news agency reported Kerry’s comments in full. It also said Damascus has called for a political solution before, and accused the U.S. of undermining such efforts, militarizing the conflict and supporting terrorists.

Since the beginning of the conflict, the Syrian government repeatedly and publicly agreed to international peace efforts while simultaneously ignoring the commitments it has made under them.

“Everybody agrees there is no military solution; there’s only a political solution,” Kerry said.

He spoke with CBS before leaving Egypt for Lausanne, where he was to resume negotiations with Iran on that country’s nuclear program.

M. Wassouf