Hunt and Pompeo to meet with Saudi Arabia and UAE to discuss Yemen peace process

Jeremy Hunt and his US counterpart Mike Pompeo have agreed to host a meeting next month with Saudi Arabia and the UAE to bolster support for the peace process in Yemen.

The Foreign Secretary said they would aim to agree next steps for progress on a political settlement to the conflict with the so-called ‘Quad’ group of nations in the margins of an upcoming ministerial meeting on the Middle East in Warsaw in February.

Yemen has been gripped by a humanitarian crisis caused by the fighting between Saudi Arabia-backed forces loyal to the then-incumbent government, led by president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, and Iran-sponsored Houthi rebels for the past three years.

It comes after Mr Hunt announced the Government would pump an extra £2.5 million into aid efforts into Yemen.

Mr Hunt, who held meetings in Washington with senior US administration figures, thanked his American counterparts for their support in the two recent UK-drafted resolutions on Yemen in the UN Security Council.

Following the visit, he said: “The enduring relationship between the UK and US is not a product of coincidence or historic accident, it is the result of our shared values.

“These values are at the heart of the foreign policy of both of our countries. And none of these values is more important than respect for democracy – the invisible chain that has bound our countries together throughout history.

“Given the threats to democracy we are seeing throughout the world – from the rigged election last year in Venezuela, to appalling violations of human rights in Syria, to the Houthi coup in Yemen four years ago that gave rise to a devastating civil war – the relationship between the UK and US is more important than ever before.

“I was pleased to have the chance to discuss that relationship, and the challenges to democracy around the world that we are working together to overcome, in Washington today.

“With Secretary Pompeo we agreed today that we would host a meeting in February with Saudi Arabia and the UAE to bolster our support for the Stockholm process and agree next steps for further progress on a political settlement.”