The United . States will have to negotiate with Syrian President Bashar Assad for a political transition in Syria and is exploring . ways to pressure him into agreeing to talks , U.S. Secretary of . State John Kerry has admitted . Washington has long insisted that Assad must be replaced . through a negotiated , political transition , but the rise of a. common enemy , hardline militant group Islamic State , has evidently softened the administration 's stance towards him . In an interview broadcast on Sunday , Kerry did not repeat . the standard U.S. line that Assad had lost all legitimacy and . had to go . Syria 's civil war is now into its fifth year , with . hundreds of thousands killed and millions of Syrians displaced . Scroll down for video . Admission : Secretary of State John Kerry admitted Sunday that the White House is trying to engage the Syrian dictator in negotiations . 'We have to negotiate in the end , ' Kerry told CBS News . 'We 've always . been willing to negotiate in the context of the Geneva I. process , ' he added , referring to a 2012 conference which called . for a negotiated transition to end the conflict . Kerry said the United States and other countries , which he . did not name , were exploring ways to reignite the diplomatic . process to end the conflict in Syria . 'What we 're pushing for is to get him ( Assad ) to come and do . that , and it may require that there be increased pressure on him . of various kinds in order to do that , ' the secretary of state . said . New problem : The U.S. has been more willing to deal with Assad since the rise to power of ISIS in Syria and Iraq . Opposition : Assad 's regime is under attack from rebel soldiers , such as those above , as well as ISIS 's hordes . 'We 've made it very clear to people that we are looking at . increased steps that can help bring about that pressure , ' he . added . The United States led efforts to convene a U.N.-backed peace . talks in Geneva last year between Western-backed Syrian . opposition representatives and a government delegation . The . talks collapsed after two rounds and no fresh talks have been . scheduled . Russia convened some opposition and government figures in . January for talks on the crisis but they yielded little progress . and the main opposition coalition boycotted them . 'To get the Assad regime to negotiate , we 're going to have . to make it clear to him that there is a determination by . everybody to seek that political outcome and change his . calculation about negotiating , ' Kerry said . 'That 's under way right now . And I am convinced that , with . the efforts of our allies and others , there will be increased . pressure on Assad. ' . Syria sank into civil war after a peaceful street uprising . against four decades of Assad family rule began in March 2011 . The revolt spiraled into an armed insurgency , which has deepened . with the rise of Islamic State and other hardliners . Assad seems more likely to survive the Syrian crisis than at . any point since it began . Iran 's support for Assad is as solid . as ever , with Russia showing no sign of abandoning him . Before : U.S.-Syria negotiations have n't always been this strained . He is pictured above with Nancy Pelosi in Damascus in 2007 , before civil war broke out . U.S-led forces started air strikes against Islamic State . group in Syria and Iraq in the summer . Washington has said the . campaign in Syria is not coordinated with the Syrian military , . which also views the group as its enemy . The war has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced . close to half the population , according to the United Nations . Damascus accuses its Western and Gulf Arab opponents of seeking . to destroy the country by providing aid to an insurgency now . dominated by jihadists , who also pose a threat to the West . Assad appears to be betting that the U.S.-led campaign . against Islamic State will force Washington to engage with him .
ministry of State said White ##sad is trying to ' pressure ' Assad to talk . Administration has been calling for his removal for decades . Softening politics comes alongside the rise of ISIS in Assad 's back office . Syrian ##sad has been in power for years and is presiding over civil war .