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John Kerry to hold talks on Syrian crisis on UK trip Syria conflict: Kerry and Hammond seek negotiations
(about 14 hours later)
The US Secretary of State John Kerry is to hold talks with Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond on the crisis in Syria during his visit to the UK. US Secretary of State John Kerry has called for a renewed diplomatic effort to end the conflict in Syria.
Mr Kerry, who is on a three-day trip to the UK, is to discuss the fight against Islamic State militants. Speaking after talks in London, he said what he described as Russia's new focus on fighting Islamic State militants could be an opportunity to push towards a political settlement.
Ahead of the meeting he said Russia and America "share the same goals" in the battle against the militant group. He said this was all the more urgent as violence in Syria was the "root cause" of Europe's current migrant crisis.
Mr Kerry has also promised to do more to help Europe with the "human catastrophe" of the refugee crisis. The EU, which is divided on the issue, is to hold emergency talks next week.
The Middle East peace process and Ukraine will also be discussed when Mr Kerry meets his UK counterpart on Saturday in London. Mr Kerry is on a European tour which is expected to be dominated by the Syrian conflict.
'Too long' After talks with his UK counterpart Philip Hammond on Saturday, he said they "agreed completely on the urgency of nations coming together in order to resolve this war that has gone on for much too long".
Mr Kerry told Channel 4 News the Syrian conflict had gone on for too long and it was time to re-examine ways to end the four-year war and worsening refugee crisis. Analysis - Sebastian Usher, BBC Middle East analyst
The EU is facing a huge influx of migrants, many fleeing conflict and poverty in countries including Syria, where a civil war has been raging since 2011. It's been a long time since there's been serious talk of working towards a diplomatic solution to the Syrian conflict. The refugee crisis and the rise of IS have provided the spur.
Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that the UK will accept up to 20,000 refugees from camps surrounding the country, but Labour says that is "not enough". Just as importantly, perhaps, a series of defeats for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has made his position look more precarious than it has for years, possibly enough to shift the stalemate and bring the Syrian government to genuine negotiations.
"We have all reached a sense ... this has gone on too long," Mr Kerry said. For now at least, it seems to have prompted Russia to start bolstering its military support for Mr Assad in ways that have worried the US.
"We therefore need to retool and calibrate and that is exactly what we're doing. It is one of the reasons why we're in Europe right now." The question for the West is whether Russia wants to help the Syrian government fight IS or simply keep Mr Assad in power. Either way, it's making the Syrian equation even more complicated.
'Same deep concern' He added that the migrant crisis had to "be addressed by dealing with the root cause" - which he said was violence in Syria.
Mr Kerry also said there had been initial talks between the US and Russia by telephone on Friday about the conflict in Syria and the rise of Islamic state militants. For more than four years the government of President Assad has been fighting various rebels groups - including IS, which controls vast swathes of territory in both Syria and neighbouring Iraq.
He described the discussions as an important first step to avoid either side coming into conflict with the other in Syria and said there may be more meetings on the issue. Mr Kerry said there was a need to "use this moment when Russia appears more committed to doing more" against IS, to move towards a diplomatic solution.
He said: "We share the same deep concern about Isil," "We're prepared to negotiate. Is Assad prepared to negotiate, really negotiate? Is Russia prepared to bring him to the table?"
"Isil needs to be destroyed, stopped completely." 'Shared goals'
The US secretary of state said it was "absolutely essential" that rapid action was taken to deal with the refugee crisis in Europe. Ahead of the meeting he had said the US shared the "same goals" with Russia - a long-time ally of President Assad - in the battle against IS.
He described it as a "human catastrophe" but said it could not be dealt with "just by taking people in" and said the root causes of the problem needed to be tackled. The US has called for Mr Assad to go, but on Saturday Mr Kerry reaffirmed the US position that this removal "doesn't have to be on day one or month one.... There is a process by which all the parties have to come together to reach an understanding of how this can best be achieved."
Asked if he wanted the UK to remain part of the European Union, he added: "We want a Europe that is strong and whole and free, that is obviously a Europe of one voice with respect to something like the challenge of these migrants and the challenge of Syria." Mr Hammond said the Syrian president could not be part of Syria's long-term future "but the modality and timing has to be part of a political solution".
Mr Kerry met United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed in London on Friday and after meeting Mr Hammond is due to go to Berlin on Sunday. Mr Kerry said the London talks laid the groundwork for forthcoming meetings at the United Nations over Syria.
Russian intentions may become clearer when President Vladimir Putin addresses the UN General Assembly later this month, says the BBC's Sebastian Usher.
More than 200,000 Syrians have been killed since the conflict began in 2011. More than four million have fled abroad and many more are internally displaced.
The conflict has contributed to the migrant crisis in the EU - which is facing a huge influx this year.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that the UK will accept up to 20,000 refugees from camps surrounding the country.
Mr Kerry is due to go to Berlin on Sunday.