The United Nations envoy to Syria welcomed the willingness of the Syrian government to suspend airstrikes and artillery shelling on the city of Aleppo for six weeks to allow a proposed U.N. plan to "freeze" hostilities in the country's largest city to be tested.
Staffan de Mistura told Sky news after a closed session of the Security Council he will return to Syria "as soon as possible" to assess whether the government's commitment is possible and to announce a start date.
He called the new development a glimmer of hope.
He urged the Syrian opposition to stop fighting also.
"Let's be frank. I have no illusions," de Mistura told reporters. "Based on past experiences, it is a difficult issue to achieve."
Aleppo is divided into a rebel-controlled west and government-held east. De Mistura wants to see a U.N.-monitored "freeze zone" that will calm violence there, allow more humanitarian aid access and act as the first step toward a wider solution to the conflict.