The UN Security Council supported unanimously on Friday behind a plan to end the war on Syria by summoning opposition and armed groups, as well as the government’s representatives to the negotiating table.

The UN Security Council supported unanimously on Friday behind a plan to end the war on Syria by summoning opposition and armed groups, as well as the government's representatives to the negotiating table.

The US and Russian initiative, which emerged from talks with a 17-nation group, foresees a rapid ceasefire, perhaps as early as next month.

"In January we hope and expect to be at the table and to be able to implement a full ceasefire," US Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters.

"And that means all the barrel bombs will stop, all the bombing, all the shooting, all the attacks on either side."

The Security Council met Friday after the latest round of talks by the so-called International Syria Support Group (ISSG), which had gathered in New York to renew its push for peace.

The UN special envoy on the conflict, Staffan de Mistura, said he would send out invitations to talks in January.

"Let's be realistic," he said, explaining a decision to push back the planned date of talks from January 1 to later in the same month.

"We intend and hope... that we will be able to do it in January. We will be aiming at that."