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Tieng Anh Vui
The BBC's Jeremy Bowen reports from the Syrian town of Maaloula
Envoys of the five permanent UN Security Council members are meeting in New York to discuss a Russian plan for making safe Syria's chemical weapons.
The UK, US and France are eager to frame a binding resolution but Russia prefers a non-binding declaration.
Russia and the US will hold key bilateral talks in Geneva on Thursday.
Syria has backed Russia's plan to place the chemical arms under international control. The US says it will hold off military strikes to pursue diplomacy.
Russia said earlier that it had now sent the US details of its plans.
More than 100,000 people have died in Syria since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in 2011.
Analysis
Even without President Obama's uphill struggle to win over the US Congress and people, there's a strong feeling in the region that the psychological moment was lost in the few days after Parliament took Britain out of the picture on 29 August. The head of steam that seemed to herald an imminent attack has dissipated, and it is hard to imagine it being recreated.
"If they had hit then, when the moment was hot, they might have got away with it in terms of repercussions," said one diplomat. "But to come back cold, weeks later, would be something else."
Syrian rebels had been poised to exploit an American blow by trying to advance. Now they've suffered the double disappointment of seeing Mr Obama mired in domestic woes and then seizing the lifeline thrown by the Russian initiative, dismissed by the opposition coalition as a trick to win time.
Mr Obama has also made it clear throughout that he was not pushing for regime change, more cold water for rebel hopes. The chemical weapons crisis has not stopped the conflict grinding on in almost all parts of the country, with about 100 people killed daily and no end in sight.
In other developments on Wednesday:
- On the ground, the Syrian army is trying to retake the Christian town of Maaloula. The BBC's Jeremy Bowen, who has been at the scene, says heavy fighting continued throughout the day. Maaloula was overrun by rebel forces, including members of the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front, at the weekend
- The latest report by UN rights experts, released on Wednesday, says torture and rape are widespread and war crimes are being committed by both sides
- UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the UN and its members must share a "heavy burden" for their "collective failure to prevent atrocity crimes in Syria"
- The UK-based pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said an air strike on a field hospital in Aleppo province had killed at least 11 people
'Prestige'
US, UK and French diplomats held separate talks before the meeting of the so-called P5 envoys.
The French have already been working on a draft resolution that would be enforced by Chapter VII of the UN charter, which would in effect sanction the use of force if Syria failed in its obligations.
However, Russia has already indicated that this would be unacceptable, as would any resolution blaming the Syrian government for chemical attacks.
The US holds the Syrian government responsible for such an attack in Damascus on 21 August, saying it killed 1,429 people. The Syrian government blames the attack on rebels.
US President Barack Obama: "I have a deeply held preference for peaceful solutions"
The P5 envoys may discuss the wording of a possible resolution. One told Reuters news agency: "I think we'll come to an agreement."
However, another diplomat told the news agency: "I understand they will be discussing general principles of plans to deal with Syria's chemical weapons. They won't really be discussing draft resolutions yet."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry are scheduled to meet in Geneva on Thursday for more formal discussions of the proposal. They spoke by telephone on Wednesday.
One Russian source told the Itar-Tass news agency the meeting would be bilateral and not involve the UN.
The source added: "It appears that the meeting should start on Thursday and end on Friday, although it is not ruled out that it may last until Saturday."
Syria conflict in numbers
- Two million children have dropped out of school; 3,000 school buildings damaged or destroyed
- Some 4.25 million people, mostly elderly and children, have abandoned their homes
- Almost 200,000 living in overcrowded conditions with no clean water
Sources: UN, Reuters
US state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that Moscow had so far "put forward ideas" rather than a "lengthy package".
She said that there were still "components that need to be worked out".
Ms Psaki also confirmed that Mr Kerry would meet UN-Arab League special envoy on Syria Lakhdar Brahimi in Geneva.
A team of US arms experts will accompany Mr Kerry.
White House spokesman Jay Carney admitted that the process to make safe the chemical weapons would "obviously take some time".
He added: "Russia is now putting its prestige on the line."
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem on Tuesday made the fullest public admission so far that Syria owned a chemical weapons stockpile and gave a clear commitment to the Russian plan.
"We are ready to inform about the location of chemical weapons, halt the production of chemical weapons, and show these objects to representatives of Russia, other states and the United Nations," he said.
"Our adherence to the Russian initiative has a goal of halting the possession of all chemical weapons."
Until Tuesday morning, President Barack Obama's government had been lobbying hard for support in Congress for military strikes.
But surveys of politicians had shown he was unlikely to win the planned vote.
In a televised speech from the White House, President Obama said the Russian plan and the regime's admission that it held chemical weapons were "encouraging signs".
"It's too early to tell whether [the Russian plan] will succeed, and any agreement must verify that the Assad regime keeps its commitments," he said.
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