A senior Houthi leader said efforts to convene UN-backed peace talks for Yemen were failing and blamed the United States and Saudi Arabia for continued aggression.
The UN envoy Ould Cheikh Ahmed said last week he was hoping to begin preparatory talks with the government and Houthis separately and expected formal talks between the sides “in the coming weeks.”
“All understandings for a political solution leading to the cessation of aggression have failed,” Houthi spokesman Saleh al-Samad wrote on Facebook. “Statements put out by the media of the aggressor do nothing but deceive and mislead.”
A Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out air strikes on Houthi positions for seven months, seeking to restore the Yemeni government forced into exile last year after the rebels took over the capital of Sana’a.
