"There is no military solution to Syria. There is only a political solution, and that will require leadership in order to bring people to the table," he said at the UN Headquarters in New York on Thursday. The US is the president of the UN Security Council (UNSC) for this month.
Referring to meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov a day earlier, Kerry said, "We remain committed to the effort to bring the parties to a Geneva 2 (conference on Syria) to implement Geneva 1, and we will try our hardest to make that happen as soon as possible."
This is while, the Congress on Tuesday cleared the way for the transfer of American weapons to the foreign-backed militants in Syria. The militants say they will start receiving the arms in August.
The Western-backed Syrian National Coalition (SNC) has hailed the decision as a “move forward.”
Ahmed al-Jarba, the so-called SNC's newly elected leader, said after a meeting with Kerry in New York on Thursday that the weapons transfer should happen quickly.
"The US commitment of military support to the Supreme Military Council is vital, but it needs to happen fast,” he said.
Washington plans to supply $130 million military aid to the foreign-backed terrorist groups in Syria.
Syria on Thursday criticized the US for applying double standards with its calls for a political solution to the country's conflict at the same time as talk of arming the foreign-backed militants.
Jarba and three other senior SNC members are scheduled to meet UN Security Council members in New York on Friday.
Earlier in the week, the SNC leader met with French President Francois Hollande in Paris and asked for military assistance.
The conflict in Syria started in March 2011, when pro-reform protests turned into a massive insurgency following the intervention of Western and regional states.
The unrest, which took in terrorist groups from across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, has transpired as one of the bloodiest conflicts in recent history.
As the foreign-backed insurgency in Syria continues without an end in sight, the US government has boosted its political and military support to Takfiri extremists.
NTJ/BA