US Secretary of State John Kerry has described as "constructive" talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on securing Syria's chemical weapons.
The two men began a second day of talks in Geneva by meeting UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi to discuss the wider issue of peace in Syria.
Talks between Mr Kerry and Mr Lavrov on the weapons issue began on Thursday and could continue over the weekend.
Mr Kerry said they were working hard to find "common ground".
The BBC's Paul Adams in Geneva says this is a moment of diplomatic momentum over Syria that has not been seen for a couple of years and both parties want to make the most of that.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday called Damascus's decision to join the Chemical Weapons Convention "an important step towards the resolution of the Syrian crisis" and said it showed the "serious intention" of President Bashar al-Assad "to follow this path".
The leaders of Syria's other key allies, China and Iran - meeting at a regional summit in Kyrgyzstan - also welcomed President Assad's move.
But Syrian rebels say it will not stop the killing. Free Syrian Army spokesperson Louay Moqdad told the BBC Mr Assad still has plenty of conventional weapons at his disposal and he is attempting to "buy time" with the help of the Russians.
Separately, UN war crimes investigators have accused government forces of deliberately targeting hospitals in opposition-controlled areas of Syria as part of a campaign to use "the denial of medical care as a weapon of war".
But, in their report, the investigators also said they had evidence that "some anti-government armed groups have attacked hospitals in certain areas".
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