US welcomes arrival of Houthi delegation in Riyadh for Yemen peace talks

WASHINGTON, Sept 15 (KUNA) -- US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan welcomed on Friday the first official visit by a senior Houthi delegation to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, since the war in Yemen began nearly a decade ago.
"This visit comes after nearly 18 straight months of calm that began after a UN-mediated truce first went into effect on April 2, 2022," he said in a White House statement. US President Joe Biden, from his first weeks in office, has made de-escalating and ending the war in Yemen one of his top foreign policy priorities, Sullivan noted. "The United States has been proud to lend our diplomatic support to these peace efforts in coordination with the Yemeni parties and the United Nations. "We commend the leadership of Saudi Arabia for this current initiative and thank the leadership of Oman for its important role. "We call on all parties to this terrible conflict to further solidify and expand on the benefits of the truce that has brought a measure of peace to the Yemeni people, and ultimately bring this war to an end," Sullivan added. (end) amm.gb