The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council Wednesday discussed Syria's chemical weapons crisis in New York but reached no agreement, diplomatic sources said.

Pedestrians walk past a placard that reads 'Stop Obama's War' outside the LA Covention Center in Los Angeles on September 9, 2013 in California, as US President Barack Obama said a Russian plan to secure Syria's chemical weapons could be a "significant breakthrough" but warned he had not taken US strikes off the table. [Xinhua]

Each member stated their stance, with Russia blocking the move to mount pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are expected to meet in Geneva on Thursday to discuss Russia's proposal that Syria give up its chemical weapons.

Syria signaled that it was willing to hand over its chemical weapons to avert a possible U.S. strike. 

In a New York Times article, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on the United States to pursue diplomacy rather than use force to solve the Syria crisis.

"The potential strike by the United States against Syria, despite strong opposition from many countries and major political and religious leaders, including the pope, will result in more innocent victims and escalation, potentially spreading the conflict far beyond Syria's borders," Putin said in the article.

U.S. President Barack Obama said yesterday in a televised speech to the nation that he preferred diplomatic solutions to the Syria crisis. But he did not rule out military strike and urged the U.S. military to maintain pressure on the Syiran government.

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed Obama's decision to take time to further explore diplomatic solutions.  

Ban said he hoped the US-Russian meetings on Thursday will be productive in moving toward a process for addressing the Syrian chemical weapons threat. 

China yesterday welcomed Syrian government's latest statement to surrender its chemical weapons and called for all parties to respond positively to the statement and push for diplomatic solutions to the Syria crisis. 

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