World Bulletin / News Desk

The next round of talks on ending the Syrian civil war will be held in New York later this month, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday.

"The governments involved are going to meet later in this month in New York in order to continue to move this process forward," he told the Washington-based Brookings Institution.

"Our goal is to facilitate a transition that all parties have stated that they support."

The first two rounds were held in Austrian capital Vienna, where ministers from nearly 20 nations agreed to establish an UN-backed cease-fire and begin peace talks by Jan. 1.

Earlier, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon notified that world powers attempting to hammer out a plan to end the Syria civil war may hold their next meeting in New York.