United Nations: The UN Security Council in a statement on Friday called on Yemen’s warring parties to urgently endorse the UN-facilitated Joint Declaration proposals to reach a peaceful settlement of the conflict in that country.

“The members of the Security Council urged the parties to urgently endorse the UN-facilitated Joint Declaration proposals without delay in order to achieve an inclusive and sustainable peace,” the statement said. “They stressed the need for urgent agreement to the Joint Declaration to enable negotiation of a comprehensive transitional agreement to end the conflict.”

The council members condemned the recent escalation in Hudaydah governorate, which they said constituted a violation of the 2018 ceasefire agreement and called for an immediate stop to the fighting.

For over five years, Yemen has been engulfed in an armed confrontation between the government forces, led by President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, and the Houthi movement. The situation became complicated when the Saudi-led coalition intervened in the conflict in 2015 and began carrying out hostilities against Houthis in its support of Yemen’s legitimate authorities.

In December 2018, the belligerents signed a UN-sponsored peace accord in Sweden to ease tensions in the war-torn nation, under which the sides agreed to a ceasefire in Yemen’s port of Al Hudaydah, including the exchange of around 15,000 individuals and the establishment of humanitarian corridors in the area.