Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei), Jul 2: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says both the U.S. and Russia are seriously committed to holding an international conference to set up a transitional government to end the Syrian crisis.
Kerry says the two countries both believe the meeting should take sooner rather than later, but acknowledged it might not be possible until August or later.
Kerry spoke outside the U.S. Embassy in Brunei after a 90-minute-plus meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of an Asian security summit.
Russia has been a key backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad regime's in the two-year civil war that has claimed more than 93,000 lives.
Kerry said the objectives of both countries remain the same—to “save the state of Syria and to minimize destruction.”
