The Yemeni government received an invitation from United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon for a talks with the Houthi militants, the official news agency Saba reported on Saturday.
Saba quoted spokesperson for the government, Rajeh Badi, as saying that the government will officially respond to the invitation in 48 hours.
UN envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh conveyed the invitation to president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi in Riyadh.
Badi affirmed the government is always open to talks and peace efforts if they are based on the Gulf Initiative for Power Transfer, the outcomes of the national dialog conference and the resolution 2216 of the United Nations Security Council, according to Saba.
Cheikh has lately held talks with representatives from the Houthi group and the General People's Congress, the party of the former president, in Oman.
The talks came within a new political effort to end the conflict which has left Yemen to face a humanitarian catastrophe.
No progress has been made as the government insisted on unconditional adherence of the Houthis and their allies to the resolution 2216.
On the other hand, the Houthis and GPC want UN sanctions against their leaders to be lifted, one of several demands they have put forward for talks with the government.
The militants with support from forces loyal to ex-president ousted the government in late 2014 triggering a civil war and, later in March, the Saudi-led military intervention.
The resolution 2216 issued in April called on them to cede power to the legitimate government, withdraw from cities, return military weapons and come back to dialog without preconditions.