UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Security Council unanimously approved a statement backing intensive preparatory talks on key issues to restore peace to Syria yesterday, a sign of possible change in the UN’s most powerful body which has been deeply divided over how to end the war which has killed more than 250,000 people.

Before all 15 council members approved the text, Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the presidential statement “would be the first exclusively political document on the Syrian crisis adopted by consensus.”

The council’s unity on a Syria political statement comes amid a flurry of diplomatic activity to try to end the conflict, now in its fifth year, which has created the gravest humanitarian crisis in the world today.

The nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers appears to have opened the way for a series of diplomatic moves involving the United States, Russia and key Mideast and European nations as well as UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura, all seeking to find a way to break the political impasse though key differences remain, especially over the future of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The Security Council endorsed the recently announced plan by de Mistura aimed at setting the stage for new peace talks to end the civil war. It includes talks on a political transition leading to democratic elections and how best to fight terrorism.

Venezuela held up approval of the statement, which had been expected last week, over its references to a political transition.

The council statement demands that all parties in Syria “work urgently” toward fully implementing the roadmap to peace adopted by key nations in Geneva in June 2012, which calls for the formation of a transitional government with full executive powers “on the basis of mutual consent.” The roadmap would require Assad to relinquish power at some unspecified point.