Britain and the United States have called for an immediate cease-fire in Yemen after an 18-month Saudi-US war on the country.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson issued the call in a joint statement with Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the United Nations envoy to Yemen.
The trio met in London on the fringes of a summit convened to discuss the situation in Syria.
“We are not calling for this in a vacuum,” Kerry told a press conference Sunday.
“There have been communications to both the Houthi through various intermediaries as well as to [Yemeni] President [Mansour] Hadi, respectful of his position, but this is the time to implement a cease-fire unconditionally and to move to the negotiating table.
“We cannot emphasize enough today the urgency of ending the violence in Yemen, of providing for an opportunity for a political settlement, which is the only way it will be ultimately resolved.”
In March of last year, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive military campaign in Yemen aimed at restoring Hadi’s embattled government.
Last week, the U.S. directly intervened in the conflict through a missile strike on a coastal area.
Source: Websites
