The United Nations Security Council is to hold a high level meeting on the Middle East conflict next Tuesday, the US ambassador to the organisation has said.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador to the UN, and Vitaly Churkin, his Russian counterpart, both said on Friday they hoped the council  would approve a text pressing for more action.

The security council will meet on Saturday for the US to distribute a draft document, which could be either a resolution or a non-binding statement, on the issue.

"The purpose would be to support the progress that has been made in the peace process and to encourage the sustainment and the successful conclusion of achieving the two-state solution and the Annapolis principles," Khalilzad said, refering to the peace talks launched last year by George Bush, the US president.

Peace talks stalled

All sides in the Annapolis talks have said the year-end deadline for a deal will not be met.

The talks have been symied by ongoing violence, disputes over illegal Jewish settlement-building on Palestinian land and the future of Jerusalem, which both sides claim as a future capital.

In addition, Bush leaves office on January 20, when Barack Obama, the US president-elect, will take over as president.

Churkin said that a new UN meeting was essential as the Middle East conflict was "now at quite a delicate and important stage".

"It's been a long time since the security council has approved any kind of joint reaction [or] joint signal on the matter of the Middle East peace process," he said.

The so-called Middle East quartet of peace negotiators - comprised of the European Union, Russia, the UN and the US - are also due to meet at the UN headquarters in New York City on Monday and will in addition hold talks with Arab foreign ministers.