Syrian President Bashar al-Assad 'open' to talks with US, says coalition airstrikes not defeating IS

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said that he is "open" to talks with the United States adding that the US-led coalition airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) is not defeating the militant group.

According to Fox News, Assad said that they never attacked the population in the US or supported the terrorists in America. He asserted that Syria has always wanted to have good relations with the US.

Assad was responding to US Secretary of State John Kerry's comments where he said that they were working to "reignite a diplomatic outcome" with interested parties as everyone agrees there is no military solution.

Read: Syria gets Russian arms under deals signed since conflict began: Assad