Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, for a second day in Geneva to discuss a potential deal for Syria to turn over its chemical weapons and avoid U.S. strikes. The pair is also meeting with Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations-Arab League envoy for Syria. Kerry called the initial talks with Lavrov “constructive” and said the two plan to meet in New York later this month in a bid to revive plans for an international peace conference on Syria in Geneva. But speaking before the talks Thursday, Kerry upheld the prospect of a military strike against Syria.

John Kerry: “President Obama has made clear that should diplomacy fail, force might be necessary to deter and degrade Assad’s capacity to deliver these weapons. It won’t get rid of them, but it could change his willingness to use them.”