The United States and Russia on Saturday began a third day of talks to hammer out an agreement on handing over Syria chemical weapons to an international supervision.

The United States and Russia on Saturday began a third day of talks to hammer out an agreement on handing over Syria chemical weapons to an international supervision.

After discussions stretching into the early hours of Saturday, US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov resumed talks amid cautious hopes progress was being made.

Teams of experts have been poring over a surprise Russian initiative which put on hold planned US-led military strikes in response to an alleged Damascus chemical attack.

The two sides "made progress in coming closer to agreement on the scope of the chemical weapons", a senior US administration official said.

Kerry "will meet with French Foreign Minister Fabius and UK Foreign Secretary Hague on Monday, September 16," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, confirming information from the French foreign ministry.

"While in Paris, Secretary Kerry will also meet with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal," she added.

France, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan have agreed to strengthen the Syrian terrorist groups in their fight against the army.