UNITED NATIONS: Yemen’s United Nations Ambassador Khaled al-Yamani said Wednesday that U.N.-led talks aimed at ending the conflict in the Middle East’s poorest nation will begin June 14 in Geneva.

But there was still some uncertainty among members of the U.N. Security Council who were briefed behind closed doors by the U.N.’s new special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.

The talks would be aimed at securing a cease-fire, agreeing on a withdrawal plan for the Houthis and stepping up deliveries of humanitarian aid, according to diplomats who attended the closed-door briefing.

Ahmed said Yemen’s government and the main parties were ready to go to Geneva, but that he was “continuing his consultations” with the Houthis and former president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s party, the General People’s Congress, to secure their attendance, the diplomats said.

An aide to exiled President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi said Tuesday that Hadi has agreed to travel to Geneva for the talks. The rebels’ second-in-command, Mohammad al-Houthi, said the Houthis also are ready to go to Geneva.

Council members also heard a report from new U.N. aid chief Stephen O’Brien, describing Yemen’s humanitarian crisis as “catastrophic,” with 20 million civilians in need of aid – 80 percent of the population.

The Security Council Tuesday backed a call by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for a new humanitarian pause in fighting following last month’s truce and said peace talks should be held as soon as possible.

A round of talks scheduled for May 28 was postponed after the government demanded that the Houthis withdraw from territory seized during their offensive.

Yamani said that “if Houthis are reacting positively ... things can move easily.” He said Ban is expected to open the Geneva meeting and Ahmed will then meet in “one room” with the parties and their supporters. “It will be around the same table,” the ambassador said.

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters he called for Wednesday’s council meeting because Moscow is “extremely concerned” at the delay in convening the Geneva talks, and the impact of the conflict on civilians, especially from the coalition bombing.

Churkin said he urged the secretary-general and O’Brien, to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian supplies and keep pushing for another humanitarian pause in the fighting. He also called on Ahmed to convene the Geneva meeting as soon as possible. If it starts before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on June 17, Churkin expressed hope that discussions would continue during Ramadan “until a final agreement is reached.”

Saudi-led coalition jets pounded the Yemeni capital for hours from early Wednesday, an AFP correspondent said. At least three were killed and 11 wounded in the raids and subsequent explosions, a medical source told AFP.