UN Envoy Hans Grundberg Resumes Yemen Peace Talks in Aden
Discussions with Yemen’s internationally recognized government aim to break the political deadlock amid relative calm.
Watan-UN Special Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg resumed a new round of discussions with Yemeni parties yesterday, Tuesday, starting in the city of Aden.
According to the government-run Saba News Agency, he met with Prime Minister Salem Al-Birik of the internationally recognized government. “They discussed efforts to establish peace in Yemen and the opportunities to resume the political process.”
The Prime Minister was briefed on the envoy’s recent moves and contacts aimed at ending the political deadlock in light of regional and international developments concerning the Yemeni file.
He reaffirmed the Presidential Leadership Council and the government’s commitment to the peace track and their support for all UN, regional, and international efforts to achieve a comprehensive, just, and sustainable peace based on the three agreed references, foremost among them UN Security Council Resolution 2216.
Grundberg arrived late Monday evening at Aden airport. In a video statement shared by his office on social media, he expressed his pleasure at returning to Yemen, saying, “I look forward to serious and in-depth talks with Yemeni parties.”
He noted that his visit coincides with an increasingly complex regional context, which has complicated efforts to secure a just and lasting peace in Yemen. “Nevertheless,” he added, “we are witnessing a relative calm in Yemen,” interpreting it as a sign that “we need to double our efforts to seek sustainable solutions to Yemen’s economic and internal security challenges, and to encourage effective decisions by all Yemeni parties to end the current deadlock and set Yemen on a path toward a long-term settlement of the protracted conflict.”
The envoy did not announce any planned visit to Sana’a during this trip. His last visit to Sana’a was in January; he also met in Muscat with the chief Houthi negotiator Mohammad Abdulsalam, with their most recent public meeting on 24 April.
Grundberg’s previous briefing to the UN Security Council on 12 June warned that multiple fronts across Yemen remain fragile—especially in Marib, with intermittent clashes—and urged all parties to resume ceasefire discussions. He emphasized that “only a negotiated settlement can resolve the conflict in Yemen and provide the guarantees the region needs.”
