The kingdom said it would adhere to a nationwide UN-monitored ceasefire with the Houthi rebels if the group agrees to the terms of the initiative.
The Saudi initiative is the latest attempt to establish a ceasefire between the warring parts of Yemen. The UN has been involved in negotiations stalled for years between opposing sides. More recently, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has received no response after offering peace talks to the Houthis.
A Houthi official said the initiative was “nothing serious or new,” according to the news agency Al Masirah, owned by Houthi.
Houthi spokesman Mohamed Abdel Salam said on Twitter that any deal should address a Saudi air and sea blockade. A recent CNN investigation in Yemen revealed that no oil tankers were able to dock at the port of Hodeidah, in northern Yemen, this year, due to a blockade imposed by Saudi warships.
“Any position or initiative that does not recognize the aggression and blockade of the past six years and separate the humanitarian aspect from military and political issues and lift the blockade is neither new nor serious,” said Salam on Twitter.
The blockade deprived Houthis of income from oil taxes, but it also critically undermined the ability of humanitarian agencies to deliver aid, including food, as hunger settles in the country.
The Iran-aligned Houthi group controls northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa and Hodeidah, and has been at war with a Saudi-led military alliance since 2015.
When asked how a “UN-monitored” ceasefire would work, Saudi officials, who gave a briefing to journalists, said they had no details on where and how many UN officials would be involved. They said that “it would be up to UN envoys to provide”.
President Joe Biden announced earlier this year that the United States would end support for Saudi Arabia’s offensive operations in Yemen, in a move hailed by lawmakers as “historic”.
CNN’s Angela Dewan contributed to this London report.