By Nick Wadhams

Bloomberg News

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reaffirmed a long-standing U.S. demand that Syrian President Bashar Assad step down as part of the war-ravaged nation’s political transition after the defeat of Islamic State in its former stronghold of Raqqa.

“We do not believe there is a future for the Assad regime and the Assad family,” Tillerson told reporters in Geneva Thursday after meeting with Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations envoy for Syria, at the U.S. Embassy. “The reign of the Assad regime is coming to an end, and the only issue is how should that be brought about.”

Tillerson’s remarks, which capped a trip to seven countries including Iraq and Afghanistan over the last week, echoed comments frequently made by his predecessor, John Kerry. But there’s no sign that Assad, whose fortunes reversed after Russia intervened in Syria’s civil war on his behalf two years ago, has any intention of stepping down.

With U.S. influence in the six-year-old conflict diminished, Russia, Turkey and Iran have stepped up their presence. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed last month to take coordinated steps to set up and monitor a combat-free zone in Syria.

That followed an agreement by Russia, Turkey and Iran to establish a de-escalation zone in the Syrian province of Idlib and to monitor violations by opposition groups or forces loyal to Assad.

Following his meeting with de Mistura, Tillerson made clear that the U.S. continues to support the stalled Geneva Process of talks between the government and opposition groups.

De Mistura has also called for “genuine negotiations” to end the conflict. The loss of Raqqa as well as the victory over Islamic State fighters in their Iraq stronghold of Mosul has reduced the terror group to a guerrilla force concentrated on the Iraq-Syria border, with outposts in the Philippines and Libya, seeking to inspire terrorist activity around the world.

Tillerson said that while the U.S. is prepared to lead, it will ask other countries to help with Syria’s reconstruction.

“We will continue to ask more of others to take up their responsible roles as well so they can ultimately provide for their own people and uphold their own sovereignty,” he said.