The United . States will have to negotiate with Syrian President Bashar Assad for a political transition in Syria and is exploring . ways to pressure him into agreeing to talks, U.S. Secretary of . State John Kerry has admitted. Washington has long insisted that Assad must be replaced . through a negotiated, political transition, but the rise of a . common enemy, hardline militant group Islamic State, has evidently softened the administration's stance towards him. In an interview broadcast on Sunday, Kerry did not repeat . the standard U.S. line that Assad had lost all legitimacy and . had to go. Syria's civil war is now into its fifth year, with . hundreds of thousands killed and millions of Syrians displaced. Scroll down for video . Admission: Secretary of State John Kerry admitted Sunday that the White House is trying to engage the Syrian dictator in negotiations . 'We have to negotiate in the end,' Kerry told CBS News. 'We've always . been willing to negotiate in the context of the Geneva I . process,' he added, referring to a 2012 conference which called . for a negotiated transition to end the conflict. Kerry said the United States and other countries, which he . did not name, were exploring ways to reignite the diplomatic . process to end the conflict in Syria. 'What we're pushing for is to get him (Assad) to come and do . that, and it may require that there be increased pressure on him . of various kinds in order to do that,' the secretary of state . said. New problem: The U.S. has been more willing to deal with Assad since the rise to power of ISIS in Syria and Iraq . Opposition: Assad's regime is under attack from rebel soldiers, such as those above, as well as ISIS's hordes . 'We've made it very clear to people that we are looking at . increased steps that can help bring about that pressure,' he . added. The United States led efforts to convene a U.N.-backed peace . talks in Geneva last year between Western-backed Syrian . opposition representatives and a government delegation. The . talks collapsed after two rounds and no fresh talks have been . scheduled. Russia convened some opposition and government figures in . January for talks on the crisis but they yielded little progress . and the main opposition coalition boycotted them. 'To get the Assad regime to negotiate, we're going to have . to make it clear to him that there is a determination by . everybody to seek that political outcome and change his . calculation about negotiating,' Kerry said. 'That's under way right now. And I am convinced that, with . the efforts of our allies and others, there will be increased . pressure on Assad.'. Syria sank into civil war after a peaceful street uprising . against four decades of Assad family rule began in March 2011. The revolt spiraled into an armed insurgency, which has deepened . with the rise of Islamic State and other hardliners. Assad seems more likely to survive the Syrian crisis than at . any point since it began. Iran's support for Assad is as solid . as ever, with Russia showing no sign of abandoning him. Before: U.S.-Syria negotiations haven't always been this strained. He is pictured above with Nancy Pelosi in Damascus in 2007, before civil war broke out . U.S-led forces started air strikes against Islamic State . group in Syria and Iraq in the summer. Washington has said the . campaign in Syria is not coordinated with the Syrian military, . which also views the group as its enemy. The war has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced . close to half the population, according to the United Nations. Damascus accuses its Western and Gulf Arab opponents of seeking . to destroy the country by providing aid to an insurgency now . dominated by jihadists, who also pose a threat to the West. Assad appears to be betting that the U.S.-led campaign . against Islamic State will force Washington to engage with him.
Secretary of State said White House is trying to 'pressure' Assad to talk . Administration has been calling for his removal for years . Softening stance comes alongside the rise of ISIS in Assad's back yard . Syrian president has been in power 15 years and is presiding over civil war .