United States
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will meet Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Salman on Monday in an effort to push the kingdom towards a cease-fire in its
war with the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Sulivan, the
highest-ranking official in President Joe Biden’s administration to visit Saudi
Arabia, will also meet the deputy defence minister Khalid bin Salman – the
crown prince’s brother – the Associated Press quote two senior administration
officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, as saying.

Biden’s
administration has kept its distance from the crown prince, popularly known by
his initials MBS, since a CIA report released in February showed he likely
approved the killing of Washington Post coloumnist and Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi
in 2018 at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul.

However, a
senior administration official said that the White House is now of the opinion
that one of the most complex conflicts in the world cannot be ended without face-to-face
meetings with senior Saudi officials.

Sullivan is
travelling to Riyadh on Monday and could also visit the United Arab Emirates, a
Saudi ally in the war, National Security Council spokesperson Emily Horne said
without providing any further details.

Sullivan’s
visit to Saudi comes at a time when the situation in Yemen, the poorest Arab country,
has further deteriorated, with Iran-backed rebels escalating fighting in the oil-rich
city of Marib in the country’s north.

Also Read | Rebels turn to poetry in battle for Yemeni hearts

Hans Grundberg,
the new UN special envoy to Yemen, has said the country is “stuck in an indefinite
state of war” adding that resumption of negotiations to end the war, which has
lasted over six years, will not be easy.

The war began
in September 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized Sanaa and began
their march South in an attempt to take over the entire country. Saudi Arabia,
along with the UAE and other allies, entered the war to support Yemen’s internationally
recognized government in March 2015.

The US sold
bombs and fighter jets to Saudi Arabia that the kingdom later used in strikes
on Yemen that also killed civilians. The Obama administration in 2015 initially
offered US targeting assistance to Saudi Arabia’s command-and-control
operations that was supposed to minimize civilian casualties in airstrikes. It
didn’t, and Obama ultimately cut back on the program.

Under
President Donald Trump, targeting assistance continued although his
administration later stopped US refueling operations for Saudi jets.

Biden announced
weeks into his administration that he was ending all American support for
“offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales.”
But there has been little progress on the ground in resolving what the United
Nations says is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

White House
officials are hopeful that the appointment of Grundberg will bring a new
dynamic and put pressure on all sides to bring an end to the conflict,
according to two senior administration officials.

Sullivan is
being joined for the talks with the Saudis and the UAE by U.S. special envoy
for Yemen Tim Lenderking and NSC senior director for the Middle East Brett
McGurk. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin planned to travel to Saudi Arabia
earlier this month while he was in the region but postponed due to what the
administration said were scheduling issues.

(With inputs from Associated Press)