On Monday, a diplomatic source in Yemen told Sputnik that the UN, Saudi Arabia and Oman were preparing to sign in early January a strategy developed with the participation of the conflicting parties in Yemen and designed to ensure a peace settlement in the country.
"Ansar Allah refuses to sign the proposed roadmap for the peace settlement in Yemen if Saudi Arabia is not one of the signing parties," the leader told Sputnik.
The movement considers Saudi Arabia, and not the internationally recognized government of Yemen, to be the key party in the conflict after Riyadh headed the coalition against the Houthis in the Yemeni civil war in 2015, the leader added.
Yemen has been engulfed in an armed conflict between the government forces and the Houthi rebels since 2014. The situation was exacerbated in March 2015, when the Saudi-led Arab alliance, working in cooperation with the internationally-recognized Yemeni government, began conducting air, land and sea operations against the Houthis. The movement retaliated by attacking Saudi forces and firing missiles into Saudi Arabia. The war has exacted a heavy civilian toll and unleashed a humanitarian disaster on impoverished Yemen.