The UN Security Council on Tuesday backed a call by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for a new humanitarian pause to fighting in Yemen, saying peace talks should be held as soon as possible.

The UN Security Council on Tuesday backed a call by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for a new humanitarian pause to fighting in Yemen, saying peace talks should be held as soon as possible.

The 15-member council said in a unanimous statement they were "deeply disappointed" that talks scheduled for Geneva last week were pushed back.

A diplomatic source told AFP that an announcement on a new date for the talks, possibly around June 10, was imminent.

Council members "endorsed the UN secretary general's call for a further humanitarian pause in order to allow assistance to reach the Yemeni people urgently," said the statement.

A five-day pause earlier this month allowed aid agencies to reach civilians caught in the fighting, but UN efforts to prolong the truce failed.

"The consultations in Geneva need to happen without pre-conditions," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

"We would also like to see an immediate cessation of hostilities but we are not in a situation where we need to see a cessation before the talks begin," he said.

Yemen has been since March 26 under brutal aggression by Saudi-US coalition. Thousands have been martyred and injured in the attack, with the vast majority of them are civilians.

Riyadh launched the attack on Yemen in a bid to restore power to Yemen’s fugitive president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi who is a close ally to Saudi Arabia.