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 "We are confident that with good initiative in the next day or so
those talks can get going and that the U.N. representative special
envoy, Staffan De Mistura, will be convening people in an
appropriate manner for the proximity talks that will be the first
meeting in Geneva," he told reporters in Riyadh.
The Syria peace talks are planned to begin on Jan. 25 in Geneva, but
there is uncertainty around the date, partly because of a dispute
over who will be part of the opposition delegation.
Kerry said major countries would convene after the first round of
negotiations.
"I won't announce a date, but we all agreed that immediately after
completion of the first round of the Syria discussions, the
International Syria Support Group will convene, and that will be
very shortly, because we want to keep the process moving," he said.
 Peace efforts face huge underlying challenges, among them
disagreements over President Bashar al-Assad's future and worsening
relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Tensions between the two regional rivals escalated this month after
the Saudi execution of a Shi'ite Muslim cleric. That triggered an
attack by Iranian protesters on the Saudi embassy in Tehran embassy,
leading the kingdom to cut diplomatic ties.
"None of us are under any illusions that obstacles don't still exist
to trying to seek a political settlement in Syria," Kerry said. "We
know its tough. If it were easy, it would have happened a long time
ago."
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said his country was working
with the U.S. to find ways to remove Assad from power. He downplayed
any change in U.S.-Iran relations after an agreement with world
powers on Iran's nuclear programmed led them to lift sanctions on
Iran.
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"We work with our American friends on ways to remove Bashar al-Assad
from Syria and move the country towards a better future," he said.
"I don't see a coming together of the United States and Iran, as
some of the pundits have described it. Iran remains the world's
chief sponsor of terrorism."
Kerry said the lifting of sanctions presented an opportunity to work
together with Iran to address some of the worries Saudi Arabia and
other countries had.
"Now we have the ability to begin to work together to address the
concerns that Saudi Arabia and other countries have and that we
have," he said.
Kerry met earlier in Riyadh with representatives of the six nations
of the GCC, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the
United Arab Emirates. He is due to hold talks with Riad Hijab, chair
of the Syrian opposition's High Negotiations Committee, which was
formed in Riyadh last month.
(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Writing by Maha El Dahan; Editing by
Mark Heinrich)
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