Yemen Monitor/ Sana’a/ Agencies:
A spokesperson for the UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said on Monday that his first visit to Sana’a in nearly two years aims to pave the way for concrete actions to advance the peace process in the country.
Esmini Palla, Grundberg’s spokesperson, told Reuters that he is seeking to “improve the environment for resolving the conflict and pave the way for concrete actions to advance the peace process” through a series of meetings with Yemeni and regional officials in the coming days.
Palla added that Grundberg, a Swedish diplomat, will also seek the release of UN staff and other detainees currently held there.
This visit comes amid intensified Israeli and US airstrikes on areas controlled by the Yemeni Houthi group over the past two weeks in response to the group’s launch of missiles and drones towards Israel. The strikes have disrupted operations at Sana’a International Airport and the ports of Hodeidah and Salif, the main entry points for aid.
Grundberg last visited Sana’a in May 2023. In December, he warned the UN Security Council that the attacks launched by the Houthis in the Red Sea and on Israel, as well as the retaliatory strikes by Israel, the US, and Britain in 2024, “have narrowed the space available for my mediation efforts.”
