US Envoy For Yemen to Visit Saudi Arabia, Oman - State Dept.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking is visiting Saudi Arabia and Oman to hold meetings with government officials, US State Department announced in a release on Tuesday.

“US Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking is in Saudi Arabia today where he will meet with senior officials from the Governments of the Republic of Yemen and Saudi Arabia,” the release said. “He will then travel to Oman to meet with senior Omani officials.”

Lenderking will also meet with UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen David Gressly, and UN Security Council permanent member state ambassadors to Yemen, the State Department added.

“Special Envoy Lenderking’s efforts are focused on advancing an inclusive, UN-led peace process and bringing immediate relief to the people of Yemen,” the release said. “He will also continue to press the parties on the need for the regular, free flow of essential commodities and humanitarian aid into and throughout Yemen.”

In the early months of the new US administration, President Joe Biden announced a suspension of US support for Saudia Arabian offensive operations in its conflict with Yemen. The US has been the principal supplier of arms to Saudi forces and has frequently targeted alleged terrorists in the country with drone strikes.

Yemen has been engulfed in an internal conflict between government forces and the Houthi movement since August 2014. The situation in the Middle Eastern nation is further complicated after Saudi Arabia joined the conflict on the Yemeni government's side in 2015 and began conducting occasional air, land and sea operations against the Islamist rebel movement.