MONTREUX, January 22. /ITAR-TASS/. The Geneva II peace conference “is a check for everyone who backs the Syrian people in its fight for freedom,” US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed his at the opening of the international conference on Syrian crisis.

“The conference might set in motion the peace talks,” he said. “This is a check for everyone who backs the Syrian people, it’s a check for the whole world community to bring peace to Syria”.

“I can say that the achieved progress is impressive,” he noted. “The revolution in Syria started not as an armed confrontation, it started peacefully from the students’ protests that were painting graffiti. Then, in a short space of time, the protests outgrew to a conflict.” “Assad’s regime and the Syrian government prevented the manifestations using force,” Kerry added. “Hunger was used as a weapon. We received data on regular tortures and executions of war prisoners. The death toll reached 130 thousand.”

Meanwhile, John Kerry expressed his gratitude to all the countries present at the conference for their participation. “I would like to thank Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for his contribution,” he said.