UNITED NATIONS, Sept 28: The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution that demands the eradication of Syria’s chemical weapons.

But the resolution adopted late on Friday does not threaten automatic punitive action against the Syrian regime if it does not comply.

The unanimous vote by the 15-member Security Council ended weeks of intense diplomacy between Russia and the United States.

The resolution was based on a deal between the two countries reached in Geneva earlier this month following an Aug 21 sarin nerve gas attack on a Damascus suburb that killed hundreds.

The US-Russia deal averted punitive US military action against president Bashar al-Assad’s government, which Washington blamed for the August attack.

The Syrian government and its ally, Russia, blamed anti-government rebels for the attack.

Late Friday evening US and Russia reached an agreement on the wording of the resolution, which would be legally binding but would not include automatic enforcement, such as sanctions or the use of military force.

Western powers on the Security Council backed away from many of their initial demands, diplomats say, in order to secure Russia’s approval.

The only reference to enforcement in the draft is a threat that if Syria fails to comply with the resolution, the council would impose punitive measures such as sanctions or military action under Chapter 7 of the UN charter, which would require a second resolution that Russia could veto.

One provision of the resolution, described by council diplomats as significant, formally endorses a plan for a political transition in Syria agreed on at an international peace conference in Geneva in June 2012.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised the work of US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the lead-up to the vote.

“Today’s historic resolution is the first hopeful news on Syria in a long time,” he said.

“For many months I have said that the confirmed use of chemical weapons in Syria would require a firm united response. Tonight the international community has delivered.”

Kerry, for his part, reiterated to the Security Council and Damascus that: “Should the regime fail to act, there will be consequences.”

Syria’s UN ambassador Bashar Ja’afari says the resolution covers most of Damascus’ concerns.

He says countries supporting Syria’s rebels—Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, France and the United States—should also abide by the resolution.