The chief negotiator for Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia said on Sunday it would be futile to hold talks with the United Nations new special envoy for Yemen without movement on the group’s key conditions under stalled peace efforts.
The appointment of Swedish diplomat Hans Grundberg on Friday as the new UN envoy comes as the United Nations and United States struggle to secure a breakthrough to end more than six years of war between the Houthis and the Arab coalition that backs Yemen’s recognized government.
A UN-led initiative for a cease-fire and the lifting of sea and air restrictions imposed by the coalition on Houthi-held areas has stalled, with the coalition seeking a simultaneous deal and the Houthis insisting on an end to the blockade first.—Reuters
