United States and Russia agree with Syria plan

Kerry, speaking after talks with Lavrov and NATO colleagues in Brussels, also backed away from earlier comments suggesting he was calling for increased NATO contingency planning on Syria. Kerry said he and Lavrov had discussed ways to revive a peace plan agreed in Geneva last June that called for a transitional government. "We are both going to go back, we are going to explore those possibilities, and we are going to talk again about if any of those other avenues could conceivably be pursued," Kerry said.
 
He said that while there might be a difference of opinion between Russia and the United States about when and how Syrian President Bashar al-Assad might leave office, "I don't think there's a difference of opinion that his leaving may either be inevitable or necessary to be able to have a solution."
 
But, he stressed: "I would say to you that it's a very difficult road ... No one should think there is an easy way to move forward on this."
 
Moscow has for months been calling for implementation of the Geneva Declaration agreed by world powers including Russia and the United States, but disagrees with Washington's assertion that it requires Assad to step down.
 
Lavrov said last week that pressing for Assad's removal would increase other threats.
 
Lavrov told a news conference on Tuesday the Geneva agreement could "not be interpreted in various ways; it has no ambiguity."
 
"Everyday more people are killed. However I see a growing understanding of the urgency to go from calls for election to real actions. That is why I hope we will see concrete actions on everybody's side," he said.