U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry traveled to Abu Dhabi Monday for discussions with Emirati officials on the deteriorating situation in Syria, nuclear talks with Iran and the Middle East peace process.
Kerry laid into the Syrian government and Russia for the lack of progress in talks aimed at ending the crisis.
Kerry slammed Russia, along with Iran, for continuing to support the government, which he said had allowed it to “double down” on its attacks against civilians.
The UAE and other Gulf Arab states have been supportive of the Syrian opposition and Kerry plans to discuss such assistance as well as humanitarian aid, US officials said.
Earlier, Kerry accused Assad of stonewalling in peace talks and called on Russia to push its ally to negotiate with opposition leaders.
“Right now, Bashar al-Assad has not engaged in the discussions along the promised and required standard that both Russia spoke up for and the regime spoke up for,” Kerry said during a news conference in Jakarta.
He said Assad’s team “refused to open up one moment of discussion” of a transitional government to replace Assad’s regime.