US denies reports of US-Russian agreement on Assad departure

The US State Department has denied a report published in a pan-Arab daily that the US and Russia have agreed that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would depart to a "third country".

US officials told The New Arab that State Department spokesman John Kirby said: "This report is not true. The UN continues to lead negotiations on a political transition between the Syrian parties, which will resume in mid-April." 

On Thursday, the London-based al-Hayat said that US Secretary of State John Kerry had informed Arab states of the alleged agreement, which included Assad leaving Syria to another country.

The Kremlin have also denied the report. "Al-Hayat published information which does not correspond to reality," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Thursday.