Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has told United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon that military operations against protesters have "stopped", a UN spokesman says.
A UN statement said he was responding to a demand from Mr Ban during a phone call that "all military operations and mass arrests must cease immediately".
Mr Assad is under international pressure to end his violent crackdown.
But activists say people are still being killed and more than 20 of them died on Wednesday alone, the BBC reports.
Nearly 2000 people are believed to have been killed and tens of thousands have been arrested since the crackdown began in March.
In the latest assault, Syrian forces fired on parts of the port city of Latakia, killing dozens and driving some 5000 Palestinian refugees from their camps.
The UN Security Council is due to hold a special session on Syria later on Thursday.
An emergency session of the UN Human Rights Council will be held on Monday following a request from all 24 members - including Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
"The secretary general expressed alarm at the latest reports of continued widespread violations of human rights and excessive use of force by Syrian security forces against civilians across Syria," the UN statement said.
Mr Ban "emphasized that all military operations and mass arrests must cease immediately. President Assad said that the military and police operations had stopped," the statement added.
