US holds trilateral Syria talks with Saudi Arabia and Russia

John Kerry has revealed that the US has held trilateral talks with Saudi Arabia and Russia over the conflict in Syria. “Resolving the situation in Syria requires cooperation with Russia and Saudi Arabia,” said the US Secretary of State. “We are looking at ways to see if we can find a diplomatic path, a political solution that will have an impact.”

Speaking to CNN, Kerry said that there will need to be people on the ground. “I am convinced there will be at the appropriate moment,” he explained, “and I believe that that pressure will increase and is increasing in many different ways.” However, although he is convinced that the Middle East powers would send ground troops to help defeat Daesh in Iraq and Syria, “American troops are not part of the equation.” President Obama, he said, has no plans to change that. “There are, though, others who are talking about it, and people in the region are capable of doing that.”

The secretary of state stressed his belief that Daesh needs to be defeated. “It has made that clearer with the destruction of antiquities and its threats and movements within the region,” he pointed out. “This is a very dangerous group and we need to increase the pressure on it. We are talking about very specific ways to do that with other countries in the region.”

According to Kerry, over the next few months, with meetings at the UN in New York coming up, Daesh will be “very much” a topic of conversation. “There will be an increased focus on ramping up the pressure on the group.”