Kerry sees no military solution to Syria, but backs limited strike

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday there is no military solution to the conflict in Syria, but backed an "unbelievably small, limited kind" of attack to desist Syria from using chemical weapons.

"Let me be clear. The United States of America, President Obama, myself and others are in full agreement that the end of the conflict in Syria requires a political solution. There is no military solution. We have no illusions about that," Xinhua quoted Kerry as saying at a joint press conference with British Foreign Secretary William Hague.

But Kerry strongly batted for a military attack on Syria "in a very limited, very targeted, very short-term effort that degrades his (President Bashar al-Assad's) capacity to deliver chemical weapons without assuming responsibility for Syria's civil war".

When asked whether there was anything Bashar al-Assad's government could do to stop the US attack, Kerry said: "Sure, he could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week - turn it over, all of it without delay and allow the full and total accounting (of it), but he isn't about to do it and it can't be done."

However, Hague reiterated the British government's position not to take military action against Syria in line with a veto by its parliament.

He, however, added that "the objectives and efforts between the UK and the US remain closely aligned in all areas".