US ready for military strike if Syria diplomacy fails: Obama

U.S. President Barack Obama has said he was willing to try for a diplomatic solution on the Syrian crisis, but warned that military strikes were still an option if it fails.

The White House released a statement from Obama after it was announced that Secretary of State John Kerry had helped broker a deal with Russia for getting chemical weapons removed from Syria.

According to Politico, Obama said that he welcomed the progress made between the United States and Russia during talks in Geneva.

He said that the talks represent an important, concrete step towards the goal of moving Syria's chemical weapons under international control so that they may ultimately be destroyed.

He said that the framework provides the opportunity for the elimination of Syrian chemical weapons in a transparent, expeditious, and verifiable manner.

The international community expects the Assad regime to live up to its public commitments, Obama added.

According to the report, Obama said that while they have made important progress, much more work remains to be done.

He said that the United States will continue working with Russia, the United Kingdom, France, the United Nations and others to ensure that this process is verifiable.

Obama however warned that if the Assad regime did not comply with the framework agreed, and the diplomacy failed, the United States was prepared to act.