Syria crisis: Geneva peace talks end in recriminations
Lakhdar Brahimi said the gap was wide but there had been some progress
The Syrian government and opposition have traded insults after a week-long peace conference in Geneva ended with no firm agreement.
Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said the opposition were immature, while the opposition's Louay Safi said the regime had no desire to stop the bloodshed.
However, UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said he had seen some "common ground", and scheduled more talks for 10 February.
The opposition has agreed to take part, but Mr Muallem refused to commit.
"We represent the concerns and interests of our people. If we find that [another meeting] is their demand, then we will come back," he told reporters.
Mr Safi said the opposition would not sit in talks "endlessly", and urged the government to "talk seriously about transferring power".
The two sides discussed humanitarian issues and possible ways to end the violence.
They made some agreements on local ceasefires to allow access for humanitarian workers.
UN aid chief Valerie Amos said the deals had allowed some aid to get through to a few thousand families.
But she said that, so far, an agreed ceasefire in the besieged city of Homs had not had any effect, and no aid has got through.
Parts of Homs have been under government siege for more than 18 months. Some residents have told the BBC that they are eating grass to survive.
More than 100,000 people have died in Syria since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011.
Rebels not representedMr Brahimi said: "Progress is very slow indeed, but the sides have engaged in an acceptable manner. This is a very modest beginning, but it is a beginning on which we can build."
Though the gap between the two sides was "wide", they had become used to sitting in the same room, he said.
"There have been moments when one side has even acknowledged the concerns and difficulties of the other side," he said.
The first round of talks, between the government and the opposition National Coalition, ended after a week.
However, several rebel elements, such as the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front, are not represented at the Geneva discussions.
Key issues are halting the violence, getting humanitarian aid to get to besieged communities, and a future political settlement.
Both sides agreed to use a 2012 document known as the Geneva Communique as a basis for discussions.
The document includes proposals for a transitional government and democratic elections.
The opposition has insisted on addressing the transitional government issue - which it believes would mean President Bashar al-Assad stepping down.
But the government has been stressing that the first step is to discuss "terrorism".
Diplomats have said that a top priority in Geneva is to keep the talks process going, in the hope that hard-line positions can be modified over time.
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