The two men discussed the escalating humanitarian crisis and the disconcerting rise in sectarian violence in Syria over a working dinner in New York last night, according to a read-out provided by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson.

In June, discussions about the international conference were held in Geneva with participation from senior United States, Russian and UN officials, led by the Joint Special Representative of the UN and the League of Arab States, Lakhdar Brahimi.

Still not scheduled, the goal of such a conference would to be to achieve a political solution to the conflict in Syria through a comprehensive agreement between the Government and the opposition for the full implementation of the Geneva communiqué of 30 June 2012.

Issued after a meeting of the Action Group for Syria, the document lays out key steps in a process to end the violence. Among others, it calls for the establishment of a transitional governing body, with full executive powers and made up by members of the present Government and the opposition and other groups, as part of agreed principles and guidelines for a Syrian-led political transition.

Since fighting began in March 2011 between the Syrian Government and opposition groups seeking to oust President Bashar Al-Assad, more than 100,000 people have been killed, almost 2 million have fled to neighbouring countries and a further 4 million have been internally displaced. In addition, at least 6.8 million Syrian require urgent humanitarian assistance.

Ban and Lavrov also discussed the Middle East peace process, with the UN chief saying he was encouraged by the resumption of direct negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and reiterating that the UN would do its utmost to support them.

The Secretary-General and the Foreign Minister also discussed the situations in Lebanon and Afghanistan, among other topics.

However, Jamil rejected the idea of making Assad’s resignation the condition for any future negotiations But he said the president’s departure could be a topic of discussion.

“As far as his resignation goes –making the resignation itself a condition for holding dialogue means that you will never be able to reach this dialogue. But any problems can be discussed during negotiations. We are even ready to discuss this issue,” Jamil said.

This si the first time a government representative has addressed media reports concerning the possibility of Assad’s departure from power.

Meanwhile, France’s Prime Minister Ayrault reiterated France’s position that Assad must step down on Wednesday, a day after Jamil made remarks about Assad’s departure.

Speaking on BFMTV-RMC radio, Ayrault said France had responded positively to a request for help from the rebels seeking to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and said that they have been providing the rebels with “non-lethal” military aid, according to Al Arabiya.

Also, U.S. pressure on Syria escalated on Monday when President Barack Obama suggested that he would consider a military strike if Damascus made use of chemical weapons stockpile it acknowledged having only last month.

Meanwhile, heavy shelling and clashes have continued to rage across swathes of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, as both the regime and rebels claim they are gaining ground, according to Al Jazeera.  The rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) claimed that it controlled almost two-thirds of the city, which has been battered by a month of air strikes, shelling and fighting.

“This disturbing new evidence of an organized pattern of grave abuses highlights the pressing need for decisive international action to stem the tide of increasingly widespread attacks against the civilian population,” said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis Adviser.

Although not granted official permission by the Syrian authorities to enter the country, Amnesty International was able to investigate the situation on the ground in northern Syria. Amnesty International visited 23 towns and villages in the Aleppo and Idlib governorates, including areas where Syrian government forces launched large scale attacks including during negotiations over the implementation of the UN-Arab League-sponsored six-point ceasefire agreement in March/April. In every town and village visited grieving families described to Amnesty International how their relatives – young and old and including children – were dragged away and shot dead by soldiers – who in some cases then set the victims’ bodies on fire.

Soldiers and shabiha militias burned down homes and properties and fired indiscriminately into residential areas, killing and injuring civilian bystanders. Those who were arrested, including the sick and elderly, were routinely tortured, sometimes to death. Many have been subjected to enforced disappearance; their fate remains unknown.

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he will call on the UN Security Council to make United Nations envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan for Syria mandatory, according to Al Jazeera.

France would propose that Annan’s six-point plan be enforced under the UN’s Chapter Seven provision, he said on Wednesday, describing the conflict in Syria as a “civil war”. 

Fabius said he hoped Russia would agree to using Chapter Seven, a measures which can authorise the use of force, and he said that a no-fly zone was another option under discussion.

Earlier on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference during a brief visit to Iran that Moscow was supplying “anti-air defence systems” to Damascus which does not violate international law.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton  call on Russia to end arms deliveries to Syria, saying that Syria was “spiralling toward civil war”. 

Clinton said she supported co-operation with Russia but stood firm on her call for an end to arms deliveries, a day after she charged that Moscow was sending “attack helicopters” to Syria that could “escalate the conflict”, Al Jazeera reported.