No Change in US Position on Syria After Kerry's Remarks on Assad Convey

© AP Photo / Pablo Martinez MonsivaisSecretary of State John Kerry walks up the stairs to boards his aircraft at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., August 14, 2015, for a flight to Havana, Cuba
Secretary of State John Kerry walks up the stairs to boards his aircraft at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., August 14, 2015, for a flight to Havana, Cuba - Sputnik International
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White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said that the acknowledgement by Secretary of State John Kerry that Syrian President Bashar Assad should remain in power for the time being is not a signal that the Obama administration has changed its position on Syria.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad giving an interview. File photo - Sputnik International
US Will Eventually Have to Negotiate With Bashar Assad - Kerry
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The acknowledgment by Secretary of State John Kerry that Syrian President Bashar Assad should remain in power for the time being is not a signal that the Obama administration has changed its position on Syria, White House spokesperson Josh Earnest stated during a press briefing on Wednesday.

"Our position hasn't changed and I don't think that's what Secretary Kerry was trying to convey," Earnest said when asked whether Kerry, after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, signaled a change in the Obama administration’s position for Assad to step down from power in Syria.

On Tuesday, Kerry stated after meeting with Putin in Moscow, that the United States and its partners were not trying to replace the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

When asked what President Barack Obama thought would be acceptable for creating a transitional government in Syria, Earnest said such ideas would be discussed during the Friday’s UN Security Council meeting on the Syrian conflict.

Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011 as opposition factions and militant Islamist groups, such as Daesh and the Nusra Front, fight the Syrian Army in order to topple the Assad government.

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