UN leader Ban Ki-moon will meet ambassadors from Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States on Friday after cutting short a visit to Europe over the Syria chemical weapons crisis.

"He intends to engage with member states on developments in Syria, starting today at noon (1600 GMT) with a meeting with the permanent members of the Security Council," said UN spokesman Martin Nesirky.

UN chemical weapons inspectors are due to leave Syria on Saturday and give Ban a first briefing on their investigation into a suspected attack with the banned arms near Damascus on August 21.

The United States and its allies are considering a military strike on Syria over the attack. Russia and China are fiercely opposed to such a move.