Antonio Guterres calls on the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to take care to avoid any possibility of the situation in Syria getting out of control.
"I called on the ambassadors of the five permanent members (USA, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom) to reiterate my deep concern about the current stalemate and to stress the need to avoid (the risk of) the situation getting out of control"
Mr Guterres added that he was "outraged" by reports of continued use of chemical weapons, but also "saddened" by the fact that "the Security Council has so far shown an inability to reach an agreement on this issue".
"Let us not forget that, in the final analysis, our efforts are aimed at ending the terrible suffering of the Syrian people."