Kerry convinced Syrian conflict requires only a political solution

Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday said the conflict in Syria can only be resolved only through a political solution and that he and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov will work tirelessly to convene the Geneva II Conference as soon as possible. "There is no military solution to Syria. There is only a political solution. That will require leadership in order to bring people to the table," he told reporters prior to a meeting with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He said he spoke yesterday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey lavrov. "We remain committed to the effort to bring the parties to Geneva II to implement Geneva I. we will try our hardest to make that happen as soon as possible," he added. Geneva I, held in June 2012, charted a political transition in Syria. Kerry is scheduled to meet with members of the Syrian opposition later today at the US Mission to convince them to attend the Geneva II Conference. Kerry, standing next to Ban, said he saw firsthand the "extraordinary" work of the UN, for which he is grateful, in the Za'atari camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan, and the experience the UN brought to the table in an effort to relieve enormous levels of suffering that is growing by the day, and which "requires from all of us to work even harder to try to bring about peace negotiations." On the Middle East peace process and the possibility of peace between Palestinians and Israelis, Kerry said both leaders - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas - have made a "courageous" decision to try to return to final status talks. "It is my hope that that will be able to happen, as procedures are put in place by both countries in order to empower that," he added, referring to Palestine as a country.