The US Special Envoy for Yemen, Tim Lenderking, is visiting Saudi Arabia to consult with officials from the Yemeni and Saudi governments, while the UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that the Yemeni parties are "unable" to overcome their differences.
The US State Department said that "the US special envoy to Yemen, Tim Lenderking, will visit Saudi Arabia from the fifteenth to the seventeenth of this month, and he will meet with senior officials from the Yemeni and Saudi governments, in addition to the United Nations special envoy, Martin Griffiths."
She added that Special Envoy Lenderking will discuss the latest efforts to achieve a comprehensive ceasefire, which is the only way to provide relief to Yemenis who need it most.
She explained that the United States welcomes the efforts made by the Sultanate of Oman to support peace in Yemen, and acknowledges Saudi Arabia's efforts to push for the implementation of the contents of the Riyadh Agreement.
In turn, the International Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths said that "there are different visions, and the Yemeni parties are unable to overcome their differences," but stressed that dialogue between the conflict parties is the only way out of the crisis.
These statements come with the imminent end of Griffith's mission as the UN special envoy to Yemen, who has served in this position since 2018, and led mediation to end the conflict in the country since 2014.
"I regret to inform you that the parties have not been willing or able to overcome their differences," Griffiths said.
He added that all the peace opportunities presented to them "have fallen on deaf ears."
Griffiths added that "the lack of trust is rooted and there is a great difference about the shape of Yemen's future, but the only way out of this crisis is for the leaders in the Yemeni government and the Southern Transitional Council to commit to resolving their differences through dialogue and political negotiations, as the two parties did in the Riyadh Agreement."
The Special International Envoy to Yemen criticized the continued closure of Sana'a International Airport and the restrictions imposed on the entry of fuel through the port of Hodeidah.
Griffiths stressed that putting an end to the Yemeni conflict requires a confident leadership that is ready to make concessions, as he put it.
In his speech during a Security Council session on Yemen, Griffiths also thanked countries he said had provided great support to diplomatic efforts to end the conflict in Yemen.
He said that the United States, Saudi Arabia and Oman played a pivotal role in the latest round of the United Nations to resolve the Yemeni crisis.
The past few days witnessed diplomatic moves for the Sultanate of Oman, where a high-level delegation met on June 5, the leader of the Houthis, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.
Yemen has been witnessing a war for nearly 7 years, and an Arab coalition led by the neighboring Saudi Arabia has been carrying out military operations in Yemen in support of government forces, in the face of the Iranian-backed Houthis, who have controlled governorates, including the capital, Sanaa, since 2014.