Kerry: USA trying to speed up efforts to defeat Islamic State

Although he said Washington was not under pressure to work more closely with Moscow, such cooperation would be possible under the right circumstances and could lead to “constructive possibilities”.

It was a hard interview for Kerry, who was confronted with Democratic criticisms of President Obama’s foreign policy.

“The key is to destroy DAESH rapidly in Syria and in Iraq”, Kerry told reporters, using an alternative term for the Islamic State.

Secretary of State John Kerry has stated that he believes ISIS is not “10 feet tall” and can be defeated by US and coalition forces.

“This is an effort to see if we can get a few concrete steps in place, begin to build them, maybe, that could calm things down a little bit so people aren’t living in absolutely daily terror that they might be stabbed or driven into or shot trying to walk around their city”, said Kerry, a former MA senator. And he dismissed the notion of a no-fly zone in Syria, proposed just last week by his predecessor as secretary of state, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton. The visit includes no such ambitious agenda, the chief USA diplomat conceded, and is primarily focused on ending the terror.

“So he came to Abu Dhabi to encourage his Emirati and Saudi allies in their efforts to convince Syria’s rebel factions to agree a ceasefire with Bashar al-Assad’s regime”.

Kerry went on to urge people not to panic. “You have to do this in a way that actually brings them to the cease-fire”.

Biden spoke separately Monday with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. When asked if Americans should worry about an “imminent” threat, Kerry noted that there are no specific threats of pending terrorist attacks, but took care not to project too much confidence.

Obama has been criticized for downplaying the capabilities of the terrorist group.

“The continuation of the Israeli occupation… cruel arrests and detention of civilians, extrajudicial killings of our youth and children, the blockade of Gaza, home demolitions, repeated brutal attacks by Israeli terrorist settlers against our people and their property, and provocations and incitement against their holy places…affirm Israel’s arrogance and intransigence, its violations of global law, its rejection of peace and its adherence instead to the ideology of colonial expansion, subjugation and greed”, he charged.

Kerry was clearest in outlining his focus in the overall strategy: Getting Assad and moderate rebels into a political transition process.

A truce could be a couple of weeks away, he insisted, even if several matters remain unresolved.

Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Muslim Gulf Arab states have always been major backers of the insurgency against Assad, whom they say must leave power.

These would exclude the Islamic State jihadist group and the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Nusra Front.

His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces received this evening at Al Bahr Palace Saudi Foreign Minister Adil Al Jubair, who is now visiting the UAE.

Kerry sought a middle line.

Erekat said that “when you simply speak about people dying, those people dying are my children and my grandchildren”.