- Diplomats from more than 60 nations are gathering for the so-called Friends of Syria meeting
- They expect to issue a call for consequences for the regime, an official says
- It is unclear whether Russia will sign off on the plan, which will be taken to the United Nations
- At least nine people are killed in early fighting Friday, the opposition says
Paris, France (CNN) -- International diplomats gather Friday to hammer out a plan to take before the United Nations on ending bloodshed in Syria as a U.S. State Department official expressed doubts whether a key player would sign off.
One of the things the United States and others expect to come out of the so-called Friends of Syria meeting in Paris is a call for consequences for President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
The U.N. Security Council will review the plan, according to the official, who was traveling with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to France.
But it was unclear whether two members of the Security Council -- Russia and China -- would reverse their long-standing opposition to forcing al-Assad from power.
The two trade allies of Syria have vetoed previous efforts by the Security Council to condemn the violence and oust al-Assad.
"I don't know what they'll do in New York, but they certainly can see that continuing the killing in Syria is not in their interest any more than it's in the interest of us or anybody else," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as a matter of practice.
Neither Russia nor China will be represented at the Paris meeting.
Clinton will consult with French leaders as officials representing more than 60 countries and a number of international organizations, including members of the Syrian opposition.
"At that meeting, the secretary will consult with her colleagues on steps to increase pressure on the Assad regime and to support U.N.-Arab League special envoy Annan's efforts to end the violence and facilitate a political transition to a post-Assad Syria," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement.
The Paris meeting comes less than a week after a conference of foreign ministers, which included China and Russia, met in Geneva and called for a transitional government body as a step toward ending the uprising.
That emergency meeting, called by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, raised hopes that Russia was easing its position.
But even as Russia appeared to agree that a key step in the peace process was the establishment of a transitional government, the Russian foreign minister said it should not be viewed as outside powers imposing a transitional government on the Syrians.
Meanwhile, the Paris meeting comes amid opposition reports of renewed fighting across Syria, while a senior government official said the country is facing "an unprecendented war."
At least nine people were killed in early morning fighting Friday, according to the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria. Among the dead, the LCC said, were six in hard-hit Idlib, a flashpoint in the uprising that began in March 2011 and has left thousands dead.
That follows reports that at least 70 people were killed Thursday, the LCC said.
CNN cannot independently confirm reports of violence or casualties as Syria has limited access by international journalists.
Al-Assad said his country's opposition movement has failed to duplicate the kinds of mass protests that have unfolded in other nations since the Arab Spring began more than a year ago, according to a Turkish newspaper.
"They wanted to bring people out into the streets in large numbers just like in Egypt and Tunisia," al-Assad said in the latest installment of an interview published Thursday in the newspaper Cumhuriyet. "However they were not successful."
CNN's Ben Brumfield contributed to this report.
