The United Nations still does not know whether the next round of the UN-mediated talks on the Yemeni settlement will be held in the format of consultations or negotiations, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN Special Envoy for Yemen told Sputnik.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd November, 2018) The United Nations still does not know whether the next round of the UN-mediated talks on the Yemeni settlement will be held in the format of consultations or negotiations, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN Special Envoy for Yemen told Sputnik.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary James Mattis called for an immediate cease fire in Yemen's 3-year-old civil war within the next 30 days. On the following day, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths called on all sides to the conflict in the war-torn country to seize the opportunity to restart peace talks, saying he hopes to resume the negotiations within one month.
"Well, we don't know if this will be negotiations or consultation. What I mean is, in general, we called for consultations, and I think this is what we will do. The government of Yemen has already departed for the consultations, but we are also trying to include all the political actors that need to be involved in the talks," the spokesperson said.
According to the official, there has been no official reaction from the Houthis on the US statements about a ceasefire within 30 days.
"There has not been any official reaction from the Houthis. The only reaction that we got was from Sana'a-based foreign minister, Hisham Sharaf � who is not from the Houthis, but he welcomed the cessation of hostilities and for the resolution of the political process. It is not an officially recognised government, and Sharaf is not the foreign minister of Yemen, but he is the shadow foreign minister, if you want. But up to this point, the Houthis have not responded yet," the spokesperson said.
