PARIS/ DUBAI: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met on Tuesday with the foreign ministers of Britain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE to discuss “a political solution” to the conflict in Yemen, sources said.
The meeting was organized by top British diplomat Boris Johnson at the British Embassy in Paris.
Tillerson and Johnson took part earlier Tuesday in the launch of an international initiative against chemical weapons, in particular in Syria.
“The conflicts in Syria and Yemen have created two of the worst humanitarian crises of our time,” Johnson said ahead of the meetings.
“There can be no military solution to either conflict, only peaceful and carefully negotiated political solutions will truly end the suffering.”
“We talked about the agreed critical goals in Yemen which are, first and foremost, to sustain the measures that have been taken over the course of the past weeks to expand” humanitarian access, a senior US State Department official said after the embassy meeting.
“That’s what provides all of us the space” to pursue “further goals” of a political resolution to the conflict and a strategy to counter Iranian influence in Yemen, he added.
Riyadh on Monday announced $1.5 billion in humanitarian aid and an operation to facilitate relief.
Saudi Arabia and the US accuse Iran of smuggling weapons to the Houthi militia.
“The Iranian proliferation has to come to an end. If it doesn’t come to an end, there need to be consequences,” the US official said, without specifying the form of retribution.
Clashes in Yemen
Clashes in the Yemeni rebel heartland of Saada province have killed 40 Houthi fighters, Saudi media said on Wednesday.
The Houthis were killed in clashes over the past 24 hours with a pro-government alliance, which controls several pockets of the province, Al-Ekhbariya television reported.
Tillerson meets with British, Saudi, UAE ministers on Yemen
Tillerson meets with British, Saudi, UAE ministers on Yemen
Kyiv ready for talks ‘next week’ with US over Russia proposals: Zelensky
- “Ukraine is ready to work in all working formats,” said Zelensky.
- “It is important that there are results and that the meetings take place“
KYIV: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday his negotiators were waiting to hear from the United States on further meetings about ending the war with Russia.
Zelensky’s remarks in his evening address appeared to suggest that a second round of talks scheduled to start in Abu Dhabi on Sunday between US, Russian and Ukrainian officials on ending the fighting had been postponed.
“Ukraine is ready to work in all working formats,” said Zelensky.
“It is important that there are results and that the meetings take place. We are counting on meetings next week and are preparing for them.”
Zelensky was speaking as US envoy Steve Witkoff said he had had “productive and constructive” talks with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Florida on Saturday.
Teams from Ukraine and Russia met Friday and Saturday last week in Abu Dhabi in their first in-person negotiations on a plan being pushed by President Donald Trump to end the war.
They had agreed to resume talks there on Sunday.
On Thursday however, Zelensky suggested that the date and venue could change given the current tensions between Washington and Tehran.
The US says both sides are close to a deal, but they have so far been unable to find a compromise on the key issue of territory in a post-war settlement, according to Kyiv.
