John Kerry: U.S. could negotiate with Syria's Assad

A flag depicting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
(Image credit: David McNew)

Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. may need to negotiate with Syria's embattled President Bashar al-Assad to end the nation's four-year-old civil war.

"We have to negotiate in the end," Kerry said in an interview with CBS that aired Sunday. "We've always been willing to negotiate in the context of the Geneva I process."

The war has killed more than 215,000 people, according to a monitoring organization. The Obama administration has insisted since the conflict began that Assad must step down to allow for a peaceful resolution. However, the emergence of a common foe, ISIS, may have convinced the White House to tweak its approach to resolving Syria's bloody war.

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.