In his first press conference since returning to New York from the G20 Summit in St. Petersburg, Mr. Ban said that should a UN weapons team confirm use of chemical agents in the 21 August incident in Syria, it would be an “abominable crime” and the international community “would certainly have to do something about it.”

“The Syrian people need peace,” he declared.

“Should Dr. Sellström’s report confirm the use of chemical weapons, then this would surely be something around which the Security Council could unite in response – and indeed something that should merit universal condemnation,” Mr. Ban told reporters.

The UN chief added that he is already considering “certain proposals that I could make to the Security Council” when presenting the investigation team’s report.

Those include urging the Council to demand the immediate transfer of Syria’s chemical weapons and chemical precursor stocks to places inside Syria where they can be safely stored and destroyed, Mr. Ban said.

He also urged Damascus to become a party to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

Syria is not a party CWC, but it is a party to the Geneva (Protocol) of 1925 which prohibits the use of chemical and biological weapons, according to the OPCW.

In response to a question about how quickly the UN can act, if Syria agrees to a transfer of its alleged chemical weapons stock under international control, Mr. Ban said he is sure that the international community will take “very swift action” to make safely store and destroy the chemical weapons stocks.

Meanwhile, the biomedical and environmental samples taken by the UN chemical weapons inspection team have been undergoing analysis in Europe since last week.

Ban has said he would promptly share the results of the analyses with the 15-member Security Council and all 193 Member States.

Addressing journalists, the UN chief again reiterated the need to come together for a so-called Geneva II conference, which would include representatives of Syrian parties as well as senior United States, Russian and UN officials, to find a political path out of the crisis in the country.

A political solution “is the only viable option at this time”, Mr. Ban said, adding that he and Joint UN-Arab League Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi, who was also in St. Petersburg, have been working very closely with Moscow and Washington to get all parties to the table.

The UN chief noted that Syria dominated the G20 talks “in a way no other political development has ever done.”

In addition to those discussions at the summit and on the sidelines, Mr. Ban said there was progress on growth, jobs, trade and investment.

Ban said he was “encouraged” by the response to this call for concentrated actions to achieve the eight anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), define a global development agenda beyond 2015, and addressing climate change.

He looks forward to building on the G20 discussions at the high-level General Assembly debate later this month at the UN Headquarters in New York.

“We must pursue all avenues to get the parties to the negotiating table,” Mr. Ban said in his remarks at a ceremony marking the centennial of the Peace Palace in The Hague

“Here in the Peace Palace, let us say: Give peace a chance. Give diplomacy a chance. Stop fighting and start talking.”

Mr. Ban called on the Security Council to uphold its moral and political responsibilities under the UN Charter by ensuring a peaceful solution through unified action.

“Syria is the biggest challenge of war and peace in the world today. The body entrusted with maintaining international peace and security cannot be missing in action,” he said. “The Council must at last find the unity to act. It must use its authority for peace.”

Mr. Ban said that the use of chemical weapons under any circumstances would constitute “an atrocious violation of international law,” and added that UN inspectors on the ground are currently investigating the matter and must be given time to establish the facts and show their findings.

“Just days after the attacks, they [inspectors] have collected valuable samples and interviewed victims and witnesses. The team needs time to do its job,” Mr. Ban said.

Mr. Ban emphasized that there is no military solution to the conflict, noting it would only add to the violence inside the country.

“To those providing weapons to either side, we must ask: what have those arms achieved but more bloodshed? The military logic has given us a country on the verge of total destruction, a region in chaos and a global threat. Why add more fuel to the fire?”

The Secretary-General expressed his support for the efforts of the Joint Special Envoy for the Arab League and the UN, Lakhdar Brahimi, who has been working with United States and Russian officials to bring the parties together at a proposed conference in Geneva to find a political solution.

“The war has created a lost generation of children and young people. Mothers, fathers, families face worsening prospects by the day,” Mr. Ban said. “The Syrian people deserve solutions, not silence.”

“This palace is by function a seat of law. But in name, it speaks of peace. When I think of peace today, my thoughts turn to countries and especially people caught in conflict,” the Secretary-General continued.

He noted the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and underscored that the United Nations continues to strongly support the recent peace agreement that gives the region its best chance to end the years-long cycle of violence.

As for Egypt, where violence and polarization have brought bitter winds to the Arab Spring, he appealed to all Egyptians to show maximum restraint, revive the political process and resolve differences peacefully through dialogue.

Mr. Ban also made remarks at the opening of the ministerial Conference on the peaceful Settlement of Disputes, where he told the gathered participants that the UN Charter requires all Member States to settle their international disputes by peaceful means and that it offers clear directions on how to achieve this. Article 33 sets out a number of methods, including judicial settlement, arbitration and mediation.

“The Charter gave the world the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Member States may bring virtually any international dispute to the [Court],” said the Secretary-General, underscoring that the judges have brought clarity and wisdom to a great array of issues – maritime disputes, environmental damage, international humanitarian and human rights law, and the application of many conventions and treaties.

The Court’s caseload has grown in recent years, reflecting Member States’ increasing confidence in its value. And its cases have become more complex. He said that the ICJ’s judgements benefit the States that are directly affected. And collectively, these judgements have made an enormous contribution to the development of international legal jurisprudence.

“I applaud all those States that have taken the high road of justice and settled their disputes peacefully at the ICJ. When countries submit to the jurisdiction of the Court, they enhance international stability, he said, calling on all States that have not yet accepted the ICJ’s jurisdiction to do so as soon as possible as a way to fortify the international legal order.

On Tuesday, the US and Russia reportedly agreed to convene an international conference to find a political solution to the Syria crisis, adding that they would encourage both Damascus and the opposition to negotiate. The announcement came after talks in Moscow between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

“The statements made in Moscow constitute a very significant first step forward. It is nevertheless only a first step,” Mr. Brahimi said in a statement, adding that this is the first “hopeful news” concerning Syria in a very long time.

A statement issued by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson noted that the Secretary-General and Mr. Brahimi have asserted from the outset their conviction that a negotiated political solution is the only way to end this “prolonged and ever-deepening” crisis.

“The goal should be clear to all – it must be an end to violence, a clean break from the past and a transition to a new Syria in which the rights of all communities are protected and the legitimate aspirations of all the people in Syria for freedom, dignity and justice are met,” the statement said.

Mr. Brahimi, who is currently attending a meeting of The Elders in Ireland, has called on the US and Russia to exercise leadership and work together to initiate a process to implement the Geneva Declaration of 30 June 2012.

That document – issued after a meeting in the Swiss city of the Action Group for Syria – lays out key steps in a process to end the violence. Among other items, 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.

“There is every reason to expect the three other permanent members of the Security Council as a whole and indeed all the Security Council members to work together amongst themselves and with the Secretary-General to carry the process forward,” said Mr. Brahimi.

“Naturally the Syrians themselves – all the Syrians – will occupy pride of place in the process that should be launched as early as possible. It is equally important that the entire region mobilises in the support of the process,” he added.

In addition to the tens of thousands killed, some 4.25 million people have been displaced since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011, with more than 1.4 million of them taking refuge in neighbouring countries.

The UN estimates that some 6.8 million people inside Syria are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance – nearly half of them children.