Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a phone call from United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported early on Thursday.
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Guterres expressed his gratitude for the Kingdom’s efforts in achieving a truce between warring parties in Yemen.
The UN chief also praised Saudi Arabia’s efforts to reach a political solution to the war in Yemen that has been raging since 2014.
The conversation came after the UN envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg delivered a speech in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, held by the Iran-backed Houthi militia.
Grundberg called for “serious engagement” to uphold a truce between the Arab Coalition and the Houthis.
The two sides agreed to a ceasefire at the beginning of April, marking the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
“While we see that the truce is broadly holding, we need to be mindful of the challenges, too,” the Swedish diplomat said on Wednesday.
“We are relying on the parties’ continued commitment and serious engagement in upholding the truce,” he added.
Yemen’s president last week handed his powers to a new leadership council tasked with holding peace talks with the Houthis.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries formed the Arab Coalition to intervene in Yemen’s civil war in 2015, after fighting broke out the previous year.
With AFP
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