Syria's government is expected to give its reaction to a ceasefire proposed for this weekend's Eid al-Adha holiday by UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.
Mr Brahimi announced on Wednesday that the Syrian government and most opposition groups would back the truce.
But the Syrian foreign ministry said it was still studying the plan.
Heavy fighting is reported to be continuing within Syria, where an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's government began in March 2011.
Meanwhile, a new, expanded team of UN human rights investigators met in Geneva and said it had requested and expected to be granted a meeting with Mr Assad.
Carla del Ponte, a former UN prosecutor who recently joined the commission, said she would investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity.
"My principal task will be to continue the investigation... and to determine the high-ranking political and military figures [responsible for] these crimes," she told reporters in Geneva.
She said the UN Security Council should refer the case to the International Criminal Court.
Activists say more than 30,000 people have been killed since the uprising against President Assad began in March 2011. The UN estimates that at least 20,000 have died.
'No qualms'Mr Brahimi announced progress on the ceasefire plan on Wednesday in Cairo. He briefed the UN Security Council by video link and received its backing.
- Arab League: Observers deployed in late December to oversee compliance with a peace plan that included an end to violence, the withdrawal of troops from the streets and the release of political prisoners. But the monitoring mission was suspended after little more than a month as fighting continued.
- Kofi Annan: Six-point plan for Syria included the withdrawal of troops and heavy weapons from urban areas, and an open-ended ceasefire that was meant to take effect on 12 April and lead to peace talks. But neither side fully adhered to the plan and violence continued to escalate.
- Lakhdar Brahimi: New UN-Arab League envoy toured the Middle East in October, seeking support for a ceasefire over the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which starts on 26 October. The ceasefire, backed by the UN Security Council, is designed to kick-start political reconciliation.
Russia and China, which have repeatedly vetoed UN Security Council resolutions condemning Mr Assad's government for its role in the conflict, expressed their support.
Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said on Twitter on Thursday that it was "important that the armed opposition in Syria should observe the 'holiday ceasefire'", which "could subsequently be extended for a few more days".
Russian diplomats said they had "indications" that Damascus would approve the plan.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said: "We hope that all the relevant parties in Syria can take a sincere attitude and concrete action to support and co-operate with UN envoy Brahimi's proposal and his mediation efforts."
Inside Syria, the main armed rebel group, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), has said any ceasefire observed by the government will be reciprocated.
The al-Nusra Front, a militant Islamist group that says it has carried out several high-profile bomb attacks, said it would not be tricked into playing "filthy games".
On Thursday, Moaz al-Shami, an opposition activist in Damascus told Reuters news agency: "No-one is taking the ceasefire seriously.
"How can there be a ceasefire with tanks roaming the streets, roadblocks every few hundred metres and the army having no qualms about hitting civilian neighbourhoods with heavy artillery?"
Mr Brahimi has travelled across the Middle East over the past two weeks to promote his plan to use a ceasefire to kick start a political process.
Earlier this week the UN's head of peacekeeping operations, Herve Ladsous, said he had started to make plans to send an observer force to Syria, should a lasting ceasefire be agreed.
A ceasefire negotiated in April by Mr Brahimi's predecessor, Kofi Annan, broke down within days despite the presence of unarmed UN monitors.
The short-lived truce was followed by a dramatic escalation in the conflict.
Eid al-Adha, the Festival of the Sacrifice, commemorates the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael as proof of obedience to God.
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