UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th January, 2020) UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths said he expects that the next round of political talks between Yemen's government and Houthi rebels will take place soon.
"When will the talks happen - I wish I knew, but it is sooner rather than later," Griffiths told reporters on Thursday. "There are no preconditions for those talks to start. So, before I meet you again, I hope they will have begun."
Griffiths said that before the new round of peace negotiations Yemen needs to witness a positive environment and the sustained reduction of war. Additionally, he said, the Houthi representatives need to be ready for the talks.
In December 2018, Yemen's warring parties signed a UN-backed agreement in Sweden. The sides agreed to a ceasefire in the port of Al Hudaydah, an exchange of prisoners and establishment of humanitarian corridors in the area.
According to Griffiths, although the implementation of the record of the Stockholm agreement is not satisfactory enough, the number of airstrikes in Yemen had reduced by 80 percent in recent months.
