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US envoy Martin Griffiths is in war-torn Yemen to prepare for the peace talks after hostilities resumed in the key port of Hodeida.
Griffiths was scheduled to meet Houthi representatives lined up with Iran in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, to persuade them, as well as the Yemeni government backed by Saudi Arabia, to begin negotiations in Sweden. here the end of the year. The peace process collapsed in Switzerland in September when Houthi rebels did not appear.
Both parties have recently expressed support for Griffiths' efforts, but the eruption of violence following a lull has raised fears that the talks will be unreasonable.
US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said on Wednesday that he expected the warring parties to hold peace talks in Sweden early next month.
On Monday in New York, Britain, a member of the United Nations Security Council, circulated a draft resolution calling for a ceasefire in Yemen, the cessation of attacks on civilian areas and access to unhindered to Hodeida.
The port is under rebel control and provides a lifeline for food, fuel and humanitarian aid to the suffering population.
The Saudis have accused Iran of sending arms to the rebels through the port, an accusation he denies.
The Trump administration has joined forces with its Western allies to demand a ceasefire in Yemen. The United States has stopped providing fueling services to the Saudi coalition aircraft attacking Yemen.
The Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014, forcing the government to exile in Saudi Arabia.
The group has since moved to the city of Aden, in southern Yemen.
Saudi-led airstrikes aimed at driving out Houthis have killed thousands of people and wiped out entire civilian areas, including hospitals.
The fighting has aggravated misery in Yemen, which is also facing widespread famine and a cholera epidemic.
The war created the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world.
The World Health Organization estimates that nearly 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since the intervention of the Saudis in March 2015. Some human rights groups, however, believe that that the death toll could be five times higher.
The international aid group Save the Children reported Wednesday that 85,000 children have died of hunger and disease since March 2015.
The United Nations estimates that more than 1.3 million children have suffered from severe malnutrition since the start of the war and up to 14 million Yemenis are at risk of starvation if the port is closed by violence or damage.
