Secretary of State John Kerry announced a new ceasefire in Yemen today, following a Monday night meeting with the Shi’ite Houthi movement. They approved of the ceasefire, as did Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The announcement came over the explicit objections of the pro-Saudi Hadi government, which complained of being cut out of the talks, and which opposes the UN-backed peace plan that aims to end the war, some 20 months after the initial Saudi invasion.
The Saudis are said to have warmed to the plan, and pressure from them is also reportedly forcing President Hadi to temper his objections a bit. Previously, Hadi had rejected the deal out of hand, after reports that it would effectively force him into a “figurehead” role.
Though the Obama Administration has tried to sort of shift out of the way, they have been participating in the Saudi invasion from the beginning. Reports on the peace effort suggest President Obama is keen to get some sort of resolution to the conflict on the books before his term ends.