James Brokenshire said he "would come forward with further information in my own way in respect of the next step around the talks process".
Mr Brokenshire was speaking ahead of meeting Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney in Dublin.
He said discussions with the parties later this week would help inform his decision.
The secretary of state added he was going forward with "positive intent" but that "differences firmly do remain".
"My priority is to see the restoration of the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland, working on a sustainable basis to deliver good government for everyone," Mr Brokenshire said.
Mr Brokenshire said: "Over the summer I have kept in touch with the political parties and I will be bringing them together over the next week as we enter a new phase of talks.
"Urgent progress is required. The lack of an executive making key decisions on matters including health and education means that public services in Northern Ireland are suffering.
"We need to find a way forward that will allow an executive to be formed."
Mr Coveney said he planned to visit Belfast next week to meet politicians.
"Northern Ireland needs a voice through a government of its own," he said. "We need to see a resumption to those discussions and hopefully a conclusion as soon as possible.
"We don't want talks that are ongoing for a long period of time."
Sinn FÃ©in's northern leader has written to the UK and Irish governments proposing a formal resumption of power-sharing talks.
Michelle O'Neill suggested parties should be given a tight deadline from next Monday to restore the government.
The Democratic Unionist Party's (DUP) Simon Hamilton described her proposal as a "stunt", saying his party had been ready to form an executive for months.
Northern Ireland has been without a functioning devolved government since January.
The coalition led by the two biggest parties, the DUP and Sinn FÃ©in, collapsed over a green energy scandal.
Formal talks were suspended without agreement at the start of July.

Michelle Logue said Gerard Mulligan did not see a psychiatrist for weeks after he killed his father, despite being on suicide watch for some of that time.
She said Mr Mulligan's solicitor phoned the prison regularly to try to arrange a psychiatric appointment.
His first visit with a psychiatrist was on 2 November, Ms Logue said.
Mr Mulligan took his own life at the high security jail on Saturday evening. The Prison Service said the PSNI, coroner and prisoner ombudsman have launched investigations into the death.
The 44-year-old had been on remand charged with murdering his father, Gerald Mulligan, at his home in Limehurst Way, Lisburn, on 25 September.
Ms Logue said in a letter to her from prison, Mr Mulligan said "he had never felt as alone in his entire life".
"His solicitor told me he had been ringing... to try and get him an appointment with a psychiatrist, but he only saw the psychiatrist last Wednesday," she told BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback programme.
"So he hadn't seen or spoken to anybody about these mental health issues for all those weeks."
Prison authorities and staff must show more understanding for inmates, said Ms Logue.
"The people in there have done wrong but they have to be treated as human beings," she said.
"They have to be more caring and sympathetic. To me they do what they have to do, but no more."
Ms Logue said Mr Mulligan had tried to phone her several times on the day he took his life.
"I was working on the Saturday morning and he tried to phone me twice," she said.
"He tried to phone me four times in two minutes on the Saturday afternoon at 15:30 and I had laid down for a sleep and missed his calls  - the same day that he killed himself.
"I feel terrible guilt, because I was the love of his life and he told me I was the only thing that was keeping him going.
"So I believe maybe if I'd have spoken to him I could have stopped him on that day. But I believe it was inevitable [that he would eventually take his own life].
"I think he thought when he couldn't get through to me that I had fell out with him and that's a very haunting thought for me."
Listen again to the interview on Radio Ulster's Talkback programme.
The secretary of state has refused to say when talks aimed at restoring devolution at Stormont will resume.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
The partner of a man who took his own life in Maghaberry Prison while on remand for the murder of his father has criticised the care he received.