His comments came during talks with a Russian parliamentary delegation visiting Damascus just days after Assad went to Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin.
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One thing is clear for now: Moscow is pushing for a political solution and the future of Assad is no longer off the table as long as the process guarantees the integrity of the Syrian state and its institutions.
Russian Federation has been mounting air strikes in Syria in support of the Syrian military since September 30.
Rebel forces who wanted Bashar al-Assad out waged war with the government, killing more than 200,000 people since then, BBC reported. Although Carter said the us still wanted Assad out in the long-run, he did not give any indication that the USA was ready to pressure Russian Federation or Iran on the issue.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called in an interview broadcast on Saturday for new parliamentary and presidential elections in Syria.
But a presidential vote was held in June last year, with Assad re-elected for a seven-year term with 88.7 per cent of the vote. Voting did not take place in areas controlled by the opposition, excluding millions of voters.
The Turkey-based political opposition group, National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, said in an online statement that no delegation of the Free Syrian Army had visited Moscow.
Assad is believed to control a quarter or less of Syrian territory, but the bulk of people still in the country are in the main cities of western Syria that he holds.
Such groups have, however, been eclipsed in much of Syria by jihadists, including the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and the Islamic State group – the stated target of the Russian intervention in the war.
Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said after the Vienna meeting that he and his fellow participants had not reached consensus on Assad’s political future.
While the USA doesn’t approve of Iran’s “destabilising activities” in Syria, Kirby said American officials “always have recognised that at a few point in the discussion, moving toward a political transition, we have to have a conversation and a dialogue with Iran”.
The Saudi talks follow a meeting Friday in Vienna between Kerry and the foreign ministers of Russian Federation, Turkey and Saudi Arabia on ways to end the Syria conflict.
Further talks on ending the Syrian conflict could occur as soon as October 30, and the talks eventually must involve Iran, a U.S. State Department spokesman has said. On Tuesday, he repeated it, saying, “We would like and would be ready to help not only the Syrian army, but all opposition units confronting terrorists on the ground in Syria”.
Human Rights Watch meanwhile urged Russian Federation on Sunday to investigate two air strikes in Homs province that killed 59 civilians earlier this month.
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“An Arab Israeli has crossed into Syria using a paraglider with the apparent goal of joining rebel fighters there, the Israeli army said on Sunday”.
