KUWAIT: Kuwait said it would provide $20 million in emergency aid to Yemen, amid its "great concern" over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the war-torn nation. Given the "extremely alarming" conditions in Yemen, Kuwait remains committed to political dialogue as the only way out of the country's war of attrition, Foreign Minister and Acting Defense Minister Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah told a ministerial-level conference via videoconference on Thursday.

Collectively hosted by the foreign ministers of Kuwait, the United Kingdom, Germany and Sweden, on the sidelines of the 75th annual UN General Assembly, the talks aimed to push for political progress in Yemen, amid ongoing friction between the country's warring parties.

Reiterating his country's unflinching support for Yemen, Kuwait's foreign minister said it was incumbent upon the international community to "lift the Yemeni people out of misery," subsequently restoring peace and stability there. In the midst of the world's "worst humanitarian crisis," exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, he said high-level international talks held regularly over the years encapsulated global support for Yemen.

The minister acknowledged Saudi Arabia's "admirable efforts," to end the crisis, saying Riyadh, which has seen the conflict spill across its border, was Yemen's "largest benefactor." He went on to equally thank UN bodies for their role to help end the conflict as well, urging for "unimpeded access" to all people in dire need of humanitarian aid across a country battered by years of war and months of a raging pandemic. - KUNA