A high-priority goal of the fledgling negotiations was supposed to have been better access to civilians stuck in combat zones but the situation was little changed as of Saturday.
Valerie Amos, who is in charge of the United Nations aid program for Syria, told the BBC a few thousand families have gained access to assistance, but nothing had made it into the besieged city of Homs despite an agreement for a cease-fire.
The United Nations, which hosted the Geneva talks, said the meetings were a good starting point in the peace process, but conceded not much had changed so far.
"We haven't made any progress, to speak of," U.N.-Arab League Joint Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi told reporters in Geneva.
The U.N. News Center said in a written dispatch relief convoys were waiting a few miles from Homs for a signal that the fighting had been halted.
Representatives of the two sides returned to their respective corners after claiming credit for standing up to one another. The United Nations said rebels had agreed to attend the next negotiating session Feb. 10, but the government had not committed.
