Kerry: ‘There Is No Military Solution to the Problem in Syria’
EXCERPT:
KERRY: "I’m proud of all the efforts that we made to try to lead people to a peaceful resolution. And in fact, the only solution to Syria will be a peaceful agreement along the lines of what we laid out in the course of the International Syria Support Group, and the several communiques that we issued at the United Nations resolution, which we passed 2254. Those will be the basis of whatever happens if they get there. Now, I believe there’s an exhaustion setting in. Sometimes timing is everything in these kinds of negotiations, and I believe that there is a possibility over the course of the next year that the parties could come to the table and find a way forward. It will be on a different plane of -- of leverage, different kind of outcome than some people might have anticipated, but I think there may be possibilities of trying to move forward. We will continue to encourage that. I will encourage it from the outside, not as secretary of state, because there is no military solution to the problem in Syria."