A convoy of inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons prepares to cross into Syria at the Lebanese border crossing point of Masnaa on Tuesday, October 1. Inspectors from the Netherlands-based watchdog arrived in Syria to begin their complex mission of finding, dismantling and ultimately destroying Syria's chemical weapons arsenal.
United Nations (CNN) -- The U.N. Security Council could vote as early as Friday on a draft resolution regarding Syria's chemical weapons program.
The resolution would impose "legally binding obligations" on the government to eliminate its program, said U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power.
"This resolution will require the destruction of a category of weapons that the Syrian government has used ruthlessly and repeatedly against its own people. And this resolution will make clear that there are going to be consequences for noncompliance," she said.
Power described the move as significant, as it represents the first time since the start of the conflict that the Security Council has imposed binding obligations on Syria.
She said council members are hoping for a vote as early as Friday night, following a vote in the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons executive council.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has called a meeting for Friday at 4 p.m. ET in the Netherlands to discuss the draft plan for the elimination of Syria's chemical weapons.
"In the wake of that vote, and we hope in the immediate wake of that vote, we would have Security Council adoption of this text, which we are optimistic is going to be received very warmly. We're optimistic for an overwhelming vote," Power said.
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The United States and other Western nations blame the Syrian government for an August 21 chemical weapons attack outside Damascus that U.S. officials estimate killed 1,400 people.
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Russia and Syria say they think rebels used the weapons.
"This is a breakthrough arrived at through hard-fought diplomacy," a senior State Department official said about the resolution.
"The Russians have agreed to support a strong, binding and enforceable resolution that unites the pressure and focus of the international community on the Syrian regime to ensure the elimination of Syria's chemical weapons," the official said.
The deal could still fall apart.
Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin echoed Power's comment Thursday on the timing of a potential Security Council vote, saying that he hoped the resolution would be adopted soon, "maybe even tomorrow night."
He urged reporters to read the language of resolution carefully.
"Every word, every comma, every article -- definite or indefinite -- are very important," he said.
According to a draft obtained by CNN, the resolution requests the director general of the OPCW and the U.N. Secretary General to report noncompliance to the Security Council. In the event of noncompliance, the council would impose measures under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.
The resolution would not authorize automatic use of force if Syria is said to be in violation, as was previously sought by the United States.
Syria submits 'initial disclosure' of chemical weapons program
CNN's Dana Ford and Jim Sciutto contributed to this report.
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The U.N. Security Council votes to approve a resolution that will require Syria to give up its chemical weapons during a meeting on Friday, September 27. The vote came after assertions by the United States and other Western nations that the Syrian government used chemical weapons in an August 21 attack outside Damascus that U.S. officials estimate killed 1,400 people.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the world community was imposing a binding obligation on the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to get rid of its chemical weapons stockpile.
A man mourns over the bodies of those killed in a suspected chemical weapon attack in a suburb of Damascus, Syria, on Wednesday, August 21. Syrian rebels said poisonous gas rained down from rockets, but authorities have denied the allegations that they used chemical weapons and accused the opposition of staging the attacks. U.S. officials, however, said there were "strong indications" that there was a chemical weapons attack by the government.
People attend to the victims of the attack on August 21 in Damascus. British intelligence said at least 350 people died, while rebel leaders have put the death toll at more than 1,300.
Constricted pupils was listed as a symptom in victims of the alleged attack on August 21.
Victims of the attack are laid in the back of a truck in the Hamoria area of Damascus on August 21.
A young survivor takes shelter in a mosque in the Duma neighborhood of Damascus on August 21.
Victims are buried in a suburb of Damascus on August 21.
People search for the dead to collect samples to check for chemical weapon use in the Zamalka area of Syria on Thursday, August 22.
A group of young Salafists chants and waves black flags during a protest against the Egyptian and Syria regimes in the southern Gaza Strip on August 22.
A young woman holds a Syrian revolution flag and a candle during a protest of President Bashar al-Assad in front of the U.N. headquarters in Gaza City on Friday, August 23. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon intends to conduct a "thorough, impartial and prompt investigation" into the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria.
Pigeons' bodies litter the ground in the Damascus suburbs of Arbeen on Saturday, August 24.
Syrian soldiers are deployed in the Jobar neighborhood of Damascus on August 24.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad speaks with the Russian newspaper Izvestia in Damascus, Syria, on Monday, August 26. He told the newspaper that Western accusations that the Syrian government used chemical weapons are an insult to common sense.
Representatives of Arab countries discuss Syria at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday, August 27. President al-Assad vowed to defend his country against any outside attack. "The threats of launching an aggression against Syria will increase its commitments," and "Syria will defend itself against any aggression," he said, according to Syrian state TV.
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