U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Moscow to discuss political transition in Syria

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Moscow on Wednesday seeking answers from President Vladimir Putin on how Russia views a politicaltransition unfolding in Syria, in particular the fate ofPresident Bashar al-Assad.

Now that a fragile truce in Syria is in place and warringsides have begun peace talks in Geneva, Kerry wants to "get downto brass tacks" on the question of Assad, a U.S. State Departmentofficial said before the meeting at the Kremlin on Thursday.

The meeting was arranged after Putin's surprise announcementon March 14 that he was partially withdrawing Russian forcesfrom Syria.

The attacks in Brussels on Tuesday further underscored theneed to tackle the threat posed by ISIS militants, theofficial said.

"The secretary would like to now really hear where PresidentPutin is in his thinking ... on a political transition in [Syria],"said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"They have had quite a bit of contact with Assadin recent weeks, and, obviously, if the cessation of hostilities is
going to transform into a true transition for Syria, it is goingto have to involve getting down to brass tacks on what that
political transition looks like."

Russia has repeatedly said that only the Syrian people candecide Assad's fate at the ballot box and has bristled at anytalk of regime change.

Peace talks will be long and difficult

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that peacenegotiations on the Syria conflict taking place in Geneva werealways set to be long and difficult, and that it was too earlyto talk about patience running out on any side of thenegotiations.

After five years of a conflict that has killed over 250,000people and caused the world's worst refugee crisis, Washington and Moscow engineered a deal three weeks ago for a cessation of hostilities and crucial humanitarian aid tobesieged areas.

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The State Department official said the meetings with Putinand Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would evaluate the status ofthe ceasefire "which was going better than a lot of peopleexpected, albeit with significant violations every day."

The statesmen will also try to "get on the same page" about endingviolations and increasing humanitarian assistance, the official said. Russia this week threatened to act unilaterally againstthose who violate the Syrian ceasefire unless the United Statesand Moscow reached a deal on measures for detecting andpreventing truce breaches.

The Syrian opposition has accused government forces ofrenewing sieges and stepping up a campaign of barrel-bombingacross the country.

In Geneva, where warring sides are a week into talks onending the conflict, government officials have rejected any
discussion on the fate of Assad, who opposition leaders say mustgo as part of any transition.

UN special envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura said onTuesday he hoped the U.S.-Russia meeting would give an impetus tothe peace talks where the divisive issue of a politicaltransition is stalling progress.

But the State Department official played down expectationsthat the meeting would have an immediate impact on the peacetalks, saying: "I would not be looking for a big headline inthat regard."

"Obviously, what we are looking for, and what we have beenlooking for, is how we are going to transition Syria away fromAssad's leadership," the official said.

Ukraine alsoon agenda

Kerry will also use the Kremlin meeting to raise concernsover a Russian court decision on Tuesday to jail Ukrainian pilotNadezhda Savchenko for 22 years.

The U.S. has said the sentence showed a "blatant disregardfor the principles of justice" and contravened Russia's
commitment to the Minsk peace accords in Ukraine.

The State Department official said Kerry would also discussthe implementation of the Minsk peace accords and concerns overan increase in violations of the deal.

"Of particular concern to us is the sharp increase inviolations of the ceasefire and firing on the contact line that
we have seen since the new year but which have accelerated quitea bit in the last few weeks," the official said.

"Unless anduntil we can get true quiet on the line and get full OSCE access,it is going to be hard to move onto other aspects of Minsk."