"According to one position — Assad must step down at the end of the political process in some indefinite future. At the same time, according to [US Secretary of State John] Kerry, the United States has updated its position, thus urging Assad to resign as quickly as possible. It seems that there are several parties with different approaches in Washington," Pushkov said at the opening of a Russia-France inter-parliamentary seminar in Moscow.
On Tuesday, Kerry stated after a meeting with Russian President Putin in Moscow, that the United States and its partners were not trying to overthrow the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
However, the United States has previously insisted on removing Assad from power as a prerequisite for starting a political peace process in Syrian. Russia, in turn, has stated that Syria's fate should not be decided through outside interference.
Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with government forces fighting the so-called moderate opposition, which hopes to replace the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
