Kerry: war in Syria causes humanitarian disaster

US Secretary of State John Kerry said that Russia's military assistance to the Assad regime may provoke a conflict with the international coalition operating in Syria.

"We work closely with the coalition of over 60 partners to achieve our common objectives of degrading and ultimately defeating IS and ending the underlying conflict through a political transition in Syria away from President Assad," US Secretary of State said.

"The Russian military support for the Assad regime could further escalate the conflict, lead to greater loss of innocent life, increase refugee flows, and risk confrontation with the counter-IS coalition operating in Syria," TASS cited him as saying.

The Secretary of State said that it is important to maintain dialogue with Russia and try to avoid misunderstandings. "The United States has provided over $4.1 billion in humanitarian assistance since the start of the Syrian crisis – more than any other single donor," he added.

"We have also set up a working group to coordinate the State Department’s responses to the European migration crisis. The United States has decided to increase significantly the number of Syrian refugees in 2016. We expect to admit at least 10,000 Syrian refugees next year," Kerry concluded