Damascus: More than 100,000 people have now been killed in more than two years of conflict in Syria, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said, as he appealed for new efforts to convene a peace conference.
Ban on Thursday called on the Syrian government and opposition to halt the violence, saying it was "imperative to have a peace conference in Geneva as soon as possible".
The secretary-general spoke before talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry, who stood nearby.
"There is no military solution to Syria,'' Kerry then told reporters. "There is only a political solution, and that will require leadership in order to bring people to the table."
Last month, the UN increased the overall death toll in the conflict to nearly 93,000, with civilians bearing the brunt of the attacks.
The conflict in Syria started with peaceful protests against four decades of the Assad family rule but turned violent in the face of a security crackdown.
The US and Russia are trying to convene an international conference in Geneva, along with the UN, to try to agree on a transitional government based on a plan adopted in that city a year ago.
Kerry said he talked to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday and that both countries remained committed to bringing the warring parties together to further peace efforts.
"We will try our hardest to make that happen as soon as is possible,'' Kerry said.
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