UPDATES WITH CHATHAM HOUSE AWARD CEREMONY, REMARKS BY KERRY AND CHANCELLOR HAMMOND
LONDON (AA) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.K. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson joined Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Serrai in a ministerial meeting in London Monday to find ways to end the political uncertainty in violence-wracked Libya.
Representatives from France, Italy, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have also participated.
Kerry visited the Chatham House, home of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, after the meeting to receive his award as the Winner of the Chatham House Prize 2016.
Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif have been named winners of the prize, for successfully negotiating the nuclear deal reached in July 2015 between Iran and the world's P5+1 powers; U.K., China, France, Russia, the U.S. and Germany.
Chancellor Philip Hammond, in his opening remarks at the awards ceremony, said the nuclear deal was not just about "ending a nuclear standoff that could have ended in war."
"It is about reintegrating Iran into the international community of nations," he said.
Taking the stage after Hammond, John Kerry expressed his sadness for the absence of Javad Zarif, who he called a "patriot for his country."
"I want to make it clear that Javad is a very thorough, very capable negotiator," he said, adding hundreds of experts worked day and night to reach the historic deal.
"Diplomacy makes this planet safer. If leaders are willing to talk, it turns out that not all fates are predetermined," Kerry said.
The historic nuclear agreement signed in Vienna called for an end to longstanding international sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on -- and inspections of -- the Islamic republic’s nuclear energy program.