Senior international envoys began gathering in New York on Thursday to seek UN backing for an ambitious US and Russian plan to seek a negotiated ceasefire in Syria's brutal civil war, AFP reports.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has already traveled to Moscow this week to assure Bashar al-Assad's key Russian ally that Washington is not seeking "regime change" in Syria.
On Thursday, Kerry met Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir at a New York hotel to reassure Assad's most implacable foe that the United States is not going soft on the Syrian strongman.
Kerry's high-stakes diplomatic balancing act aims to keep both Moscow and Riyadh on board as the 17-nation International Syrian Support Group (ISSG) struggles to cobble together peace talks.
Washington and UN Syrian envoy Staffan de Mistura want Assad's regime and the armed groups ranged against him to send delegates to peace talks some time on or after January 1.
If a ceasefire can be reached in Syria's four-and-a-half-year-old civil war, then Syrian troops, Russia and a US-led coalition can focus their fire on the hardline jihadist ISIS.
Under a deal struck last month in Vienna, government and rebel negotiators would have six months to form a transitional government and 18 months to organize national elections.