WASHINGTON (AA) - United States Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday that US and Britain remained committed to the Geneva II conference, ready to exert all efforts to support the Syrian opposition.
US Secretary Kerry held a joint press conference on Wednesday following his meeting with British Foreign Secretary William Hague in Washington.
Kerry expressed that the US and Britain had deep concerns over Syrian civil war especially upon Iran and Hezbollah intervention.
"We are deeply concerned about the dire situation in Syria, including the involvement of Hezbollah, as well as Iran, across state lines in another country. So we are focusing our efforts now on doing all that we can to support the opposition as they work to change the balance on the ground. And together, we have provided tremendous humanitarian assistance in an effort to mitigate the human suffering that is taking place in Syria," he noted.
Underlining their continuing commitments for Geneva II talks , Kerry stated, "We remain committed to the Geneva II conference. We both understand the complications with the situation on the ground and moving forward rapidly. But there will have to be a political solution, ultimately, to the situation on the ground, and that is the framework that will continue to be the outline, and we remain committed to it."
Kerry argued that there was no winner in Syria considering the current situation. "The people lose, and Syria as a country loses. And what we have been pushing for, all of us involved in this effort, is a political solution that ends the violence, saves Syria, stops the killing and destruction of an entire nation, " he stressed.
Pointing out Assad's use of weapons pushing the limits of human values and standards, Kerry urged that they must make decisions towards supporting the opposition to compete with such weapons and overcome this disadvantage.
"The choice of weapons that he has engaged in across the board challenge anybody’s values and standards of human behavior. And we’re going to have to make judgments for ourselves about how we can help the opposition to be able to deal with that," added Kerry.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague also highlighted the diplomatic efforts towards a political solution in Syria, saying "Our priority remains to see a diplomatic process in Geneva that succeeds in reaching a negotiated end to the conflict. But we will have to be prepared to do more to save lives, to pressure the Assad regime to negotiate seriously, and to prevent the growth of extremism and terrorism if diplomatic efforts are going to succeed."
Hague also thanked Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon for their efforts to shelter the Syrian refugees. "I want to pay tribute to the governments and people of Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon for their extraordinary generosity in hosting the vast refugee population and the burden that they’re shouldering for the whole world because of their proximity to this appalling conflict," he said.
