article_snippet: Diplomacy remains stalled between the two sides, with rounds of peace talks between the Assad government and the opposition coming to nothing - including a proposed local ceasefire in Aleppo, the largest city in Syria.
article_snippet: There are fresh hopes that fighting could soon cease, at least temporarily, after US Secretary of State John Kerry said the time had come to 'negotiate' with Assad.
article_snippet: Despite earlier insisting the the iron-fisted leader's days were numbered, US Secretary of State John Kerry said: 'Well, we have to negotiate in the end.
article_snippet: we've always been willing to negotiate.'