U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan is traveling to Saudi Arabia on Monday to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as President Joe Biden’s administration attempts to press for a ceasefire in the war between the kingdom and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Aside from meeting the crown prince, Sullivan is expected to meet with Deputy Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, a brother of the crown prince, two senior administration officials told the Associated Press.
Biden’s administration has largely avoided talks with the crown prince since making public in February a Central Intelligence Agency report showing the crown prince likely approved the killing of a Washington Post columnist and Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi in a 2018 operation at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul. But U.S. officials in the White House have resolved that attempting to end one of the world’s most complex conflicts cannot be accomplished without engaging with senior Saudi leadership in face-to-face discussions, one senior administration official noted.
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Emily Horne, a National Security Council spokeswoman, said Sullivan was traveling to Riyadh on Monday and would visit the United Arab Emirates, a Saudi ally in the war, but did not provide additional details.
Sullivan’s arrival comes amid further deterioration with the situation in Yemen, which is known to be the Arab world’s poorest country. Fighting and conflicts have intensified in the city of Marib as Iran-backed rebels have sought to oust the Saudi-backed government from the oil-rich city in the country’s north region.
The recent United Nations special envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, claimed earlier this month that the country is “stuck in an indefinite state of war” and that resuming negotiations to end a six-year conflict will be a challenge.
The war in Yemen began on Sept. 14, 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and marched south in an attempt to seize the entire country. The United Arab Emirates, along with Saudi Arabia, entered the war alongside Yemen’s internationally recognized government in March 2015.
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Biden said earlier this year that he was ending all U.S. support for “offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales.”
White House officials are optimistic that Grundberg will provide a new dynamic and apply pressure to all sides on ending the conflict, according to two senior administration officials.
