Time US changed Syria policy and talked with Assad

It is too early to say whether US Secretary of State John Kerry's remark that the United States would have to negotiate with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad marks a major change in Washington's policy toward Damascus.

Kerry's remark came on Sunday, which marked four years of the Syrian conflict and saw many across the world, including United Nations agencies, calling for an "early" resolution to the most serious crisis in the Middle East. Kerry, though, added that, "we've always been willing to negotiate in the context of the Geneva I process (a 2012 conference that called for a negotiated transition to resolve the crisis)".

One day later, in an apparent attempt to dispel any misunderstanding arising from Kerry's remark, Marie Harf, US State Department's deputy spokeswoman, said there had been no change in the US policy and ruled out the possibility of direct talks with Assad.