15/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - EU urges parties to engage in peace talks. On Tuesday 15 December, the EU called on the parties in Yemen “to engage constructively and without preconditions in the negotiations, keeping the interest of all Yemenis at heart” in UN-facilitated peace talks that resumed that day. “These talks are a building block in reaching a sustainable and lasting settlement to the current crisis,” explained a spokesperson for EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in a press release. The last peace talks, in June, ended in failure. The EU also welcomed the announcement of a ceasefire beginning the same day, commenting: “This initiative goes in the right direction and the EU calls all parties and militias to abide by it and promote de-escalation and refrain from provocations.” The spokesperson said: “This initiative goes in the right direction” and “is the appropriate response to avoid further civilian casualties and destruction of critical civilian infrastructure; it also offers the possibility to fully enable access for emergency assistance to address the unprecedented needs of the Yemeni population.” Around 80% of the population requires humanitarian aid. (CG)