The UN envoy said Wednesday that Yemeni parties taking part in peace talks in the Kuwaiti capital were closer to agreement, as he headed to New York to brief the Security Council.

The UN envoy said Wednesday that Yemeni parties taking part in peace talks in the Kuwaiti capital were closer to agreement, as he headed to New York to brief the Security Council.

"We are moving towards a general understanding that encompasses the expectations and visions of the parties," Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in a statement.

"The discussions have become more sensitive and delicate bringing us closer to a comprehensive agreement," he said.

Ould Cheikh Ahmed is to brief the UN Security Council in a closed session later on Wednesday on the progress made in the peace talks which began on April 21 but have been clouded by repeated walkouts by the Saudi-backed exiled government delegation.

Face-to-face meetings resumed on Monday for the first time in nearly a week after the latest boycott.

Ould Cheikh Ahmed said discussions on Tuesday centered on "various military and security issues including withdrawals and troop movements".

"We are now working on overcoming various obstacles and addressing specific details of an implementation mechanism," he said.

AFP news agency quoted a Western diplomat familiar with the talks as saying that they had made important progress.

"We are in a stage where the parties have to make hard choices and compromises," the diplomat said, adding that he was "very optimistic" that a deal could be reached.

"We have not seen this momentum towards peace in the past one and a half years... a roadmap plan has been laid down... and it has to work," he said.