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Assad departure key to Syria resolution, says Johnson Boris Johnson says previous remarks 'taken out of context'
(about 17 hours later)
Boris Johnson is to urge the international community to accept the Syria conflict will not end while President Assad remains in power. Boris Johnson said some of his outspoken comments had been "taken out of context" as he faced hostile questions in his first press conference as foreign secretary.
The foreign secretary is hosting talks in London later with his US, French, German and Italian counterparts. Appearing with US Secretary of State John Kerry, he played down remarks about Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
He said Russia must unite behind calls for the Syrian leader to step down. Mr Kerry said the UK's vote to leave the EU posed "complicated questions" regarding future trade deals.
Meanwhile, Mr Johnson and US Secretary of State John Kerry are to hold discussions for the first time following the UK vote to leave the EU. Earlier, Mr Johnson and Mr Kerry held talks focusing on Syria.
The talks are being seen as an attempt by the government to show that the US still values the "special relationship" between the two countries after the referendum. They will also meet European foreign ministers before talks with Saudi Arabian and United Arab Emirate representatives about the situation in Yemen.
Mr Johnson is also holding a meeting with foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia and the UAE to discuss the conflict in Yemen. Until his appointment as foreign secretary by new Prime Minister Theresa May, Mr Johnson wrote a weekly column in the Daily Telegraph.
Speaking on Monday, Mr Johnson said: "We must be more active, more engaged and more outward-looking, so I am delighted to have this early opportunity to welcome my international counterparts to London for important meetings on the conflicts in Syria and Yemen. In 2007, he wrote that Mrs Clinton, the Democrat candidate for US president, was "like a sadistic nurse in a mental hospital".
"I will be making clear my view that the suffering of the Syrian people will not end while Assad remains in power. The international community, including Russia, must be united on this." He also faced criticism ahead of the EU referendum for remarks about President Obama's "part-Kenyan" ancestry.
Asked whether he would like to apologise, he said: "We can spend an awfully long time going over lots of stuff that I've written over the last 30 years," adding that they had all been "taken out of context" and insisting the focus should be on Syria and the other issues being discussed.
Trade talks
Pressed on his comments, by US journalists, he said it would take too long to apologise to everyone mentioned in the "rich thesaurus" of things he had said.
Mr Johnson and Mr Kerry both emphasised that the "special relationship" between their countries remained strong.
Asked about President Obama's remark - made before the EU referendum - that the UK would be "at the back of the queue" on trade deals if it voted to leave, Mr Kerry said it could take "at least a couple of years" to reach an agreement as the UK could not sign a new deal while it remained an EU member.
He said Mrs May had "hit the ground running" as prime minister, adding: "The United States of America depends on a strong United Kingdom."
On Syria, Mr Johnson said a "clear plan" was in place but that the situation on the ground was "dire".
Peace talks
He said it had always been his view that Syria's President, Bashar al-Assad, had to step aside as part of a peace plan, and that Russia had a "unique ability" to press him to "end the carnage".
EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini will also participate in the talks in London on Syria.EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini will also participate in the talks in London on Syria.
Newspaper columns
BBC diplomatic correspondent James Landale says Mr Johnson's remarks will be seen as the latest attempt to distance himself from his past views and colourful language as he steps tentatively onto the world stage.
He has in the past written newspaper columns suggesting the West should work with President Bashar al-Assad to fight IS and has praised the Syrian leader's success in ousting the group from the historic ruins of Palmyra.
But our correspondent said the latest comments show the foreign secretary, who was appointed last week by new Prime Minister Theresa May, is backing official government policy.
Peace talks on Syria, co-sponsored by the US and Russia, have not formally examined whether any deal could require President Assad's departure from the country.Peace talks on Syria, co-sponsored by the US and Russia, have not formally examined whether any deal could require President Assad's departure from the country.
But British officials denied Mr Johnson was sending a wider signal to the US that the UK would oppose any moves towards an accommodation with President Assad in the future. Mr Johnson, who made his debut on the international stage in Brussels on Monday, when he met EU foreign ministers, will travel to Washington on Thursday for talks on combating so-called Islamic State.
Mr Johnson, who made his debut on the international stage in Brussels on Monday when he met EU foreign ministers, will travel to Washington on Thursday for talks on combating IS.