US Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would have to negotiate with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in order to find a solution to the ongoing conflict in the country.
However, clarifying Mr Kerry's comments that were made in an interview to CBS news, State Department spokesperson Marie Harf said negotiations would not happen directly with the Syrian president, stating “it has never been and would not be Assad who would negotiate - and the Secretary was not saying that today.
"By necessity, there has always been a need for representatives of the Assad regime to be a part of this process," added the spokesperson.
Earlier the Secretary of State said the conflict in Syria was "one of the worst tragedies any of us have seen", adding "everybody agrees there is no military solution; there's only a political solution".
"We have to negotiate in the end," said Mr Kerry. "To get the Assad regime to negotiate, we're going to have to make it clear to him that there is a determination by everybody to seek that political outcome and change his calculation about negotiating."
"What we're pushing for is to get him (Assad) to come and do that, and it may require that there be increased pressure on him of various kinds in order to do that," he added. "We've made it very clear to people that we are looking at increased steps that can help bring about that pressure."
"That's under way right now. And I am convinced that, with the efforts of our allies and others, there will be increased pressure on Assad."
However, clarifying Mr Kerry's comments that were made in an interview to CBS news, State Department spokesperson Marie Harf said negotiations would not happen directly with the Syrian president, stating “it has never been and would not be Assad who would negotiate - and the Secretary was not saying that today.
"By necessity, there has always been a need for representatives of the Assad regime to be a part of this process," added the spokesperson.
Earlier the Secretary of State said the conflict in Syria was "one of the worst tragedies any of us have seen", adding "everybody agrees there is no military solution; there's only a political solution".
"We have to negotiate in the end," said Mr Kerry. "To get the Assad regime to negotiate, we're going to have to make it clear to him that there is a determination by everybody to seek that political outcome and change his calculation about negotiating."
"What we're pushing for is to get him (Assad) to come and do that, and it may require that there be increased pressure on him of various kinds in order to do that," he added. "We've made it very clear to people that we are looking at increased steps that can help bring about that pressure."
"That's under way right now. And I am convinced that, with the efforts of our allies and others, there will be increased pressure on Assad."