EU and France deny any change in Syria policy
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The European Union and France denied any change in Western policy on Syria on Monday after US Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would have to negotiate with Syrian President Bashar Assad for a political transition there.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Kerry had assured him Washington had not altered its stand on Syria and he made clear Paris believed Assad should not stay in power. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said a lasting solution to the Syrian conflict could be achieved only through "a Syrian-led political process leading to a transition".
That meant also talking to representatives of the Assad regime, she told a news conference after EU foreign ministers met in Brussels. "I guess Secretary Kerry's position was in this sense ... I don't think he was referring to Assad himself but rather the regime."
