Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held “very fruitful and constructive” talks with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres that touched on bilateral relations and focused on the crisis in Yemen. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said the meeting was “very fruitful and constructive”, noting that the two leaders discussed relations between the United Nations and Saudi Arabia, which is a founding member of the international organization. A statement issued by the UN said Guterres expressed “very deep gratitude and appreciation” for Prince Mohammed’s “generosity and the generosity of the Government and the people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and for your trust in the UN.” The Saudi Crown Prince and the UN Secretary General attended the signing of the joint executive program between Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the UN to support and fund the UN Humanitarian Response Plan for Yemen in 2018. “The memorandum, the voluntary contributions that have been signed, represents an extremely important contribution by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates of practically one billion dollars to support the humanitarian cause in Yemen and to support the humanitarian response platform,” Guterres said in his statement. “We know that there is no humanitarian solution for humanitarian problems. The solution is political and we are entirely at your disposal to work together to find a political solution when that becomes possible, and to allow to end the suffering of the Yemeni people at the present moment,” he added. The head of the UN underlined the importance of humanitarian aid provided by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, expressing hope that other donors would follow the example of the two Gulf countries. “Your generous contribution is of extreme relevance, as 22 million people are in need of humanitarian aid. And we hope and we are very appreciative of the recent operations planned, that was put in place, that will help to have full humanitarian access; it will help to have respect for all aspects of humanitarian law and protection of civilians that are necessary in this context, and to say that we want to work together with Saudi Arabia for these objectives,” Guterres stated. In remarks following the meeting, Jubeir noted that in addition to the $930 million grant offered by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the Kingdom would provide the amount of $70 million in direct support to Yemen to expand port capacities and infrastructure, with a view to improving the delivery of humanitarian assistance.