‘This war has to end’: Biden pulls U.S. support for offensive operations in Yemen
President Joe Biden has Thursday that the United States was ending support for a five-year Saudi-led military offensive in Yemen, calling the move part of restoring a U.S. emphasis on diplomacy, democracy and human rights.
“This war has to end,” Biden told diplomats in his first visit to the State Department as president, saying the conflict had created a “humanitarian and strategic catastrophe.”
“We are ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen including relevant arms sales” the U.S. President said.
The announcement is part of steps laid out by Biden to course-correct the U.S. foreign policy and better unite the country’s democratic values with its diplomatic leadership.
The U.S. military plays an extremely limited role in the conflict currently such as training for the coalition and sharing some intelligence related to the defense of Saudi Arabia.
At the same time, Biden committed support to Saudi Arabia defend its sovereignty and its territorial integrity as “Saudi Arabia faces missile attacks, UAV strikes, and other threats from Iranian-supplied forces in multiple countries” Biden said.
