Four-sided talks on Syrian civil war "constructive": Kerry

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday said the four-sided talks over the Syrian crisis was constructive and could be resumed in the near future.

After the meeting between top diplomats of Russia, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, Kerry told reporters the talks had been constructive, but had failed to find a solution to put an end to the civil war in Syria. He did not reveal any details of what was discussed in the talks.

"Today's meeting was constructive and productive and succeeded in surfacing some ideas, which I am not going to share today, but which I hope have a possibility of changing the dynamic," Kerry told reporters after the talks.

He said hopefully the representatives from the four states could meet again as early as next Friday to see if there was sufficient common ground to "advance a meaningful political process".

The meeting at Vienna's hotel Imperial was held weeks after Russia carried out air strikes in Syria, which Moscow said was targeting the extremist group Islamic State (IS) in Syria.

This week, Syria's president Bashar al-Assad's unexpected visit to Moscow seemed to send a message to his foes that he remained Syria's legitimate authority.

Russia said it began air strikes in Syria after the Russian Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, granted President Vladimir Putin the right to send troops abroad following a request by Assad.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted his country and Jordan agreed to set up a special working mechanism to coordinate the military action in Syria.

The civil war and the rise of IS in the country have forced thousands of people to leave Syria, many of whom are coming to Europe, seeking asylum. Endit