The Houthis and former President Ali Abdullah Saleh should stop fighting against the Yemeni people.

This was the call made by German Ambassador Boris Ruge on Thursday during a meeting with Shoura Council Secretary-General Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Amro at his office. Deputy Chief of Mission Michael Ohnmacht was also present.

During the meeting, Al-Amro thanked Ruge for supporting Operation Restoring Hope, which he said was aimed at resolving the country’s problems through negotiations, fighting terrorism and delivering aid.

The German envoy also urged the Houthis and their supporters to commit themselves to the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2216.

He praised the Saudi government for helping relief operations, including the $274 million allocated for UN aid projects in Yemen.

During the meeting, Al-Amro and the German envoy also discussed relations between the Shoura Council and the German Parliament, the Bundestag.

In recent years, there have been frequent contacts between officials from the two countries. Former Federal Transport Minister and Chairman of the Bundestag’s Economic Affairs and Energy Committee Peter Ramsauer visited Saudi Arabia in May 2014.

In April of that year, Federal Environment Minister and Chairman of the Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs Committee Norbert Rottgen also visited the Kingdom.

In May 2011, a Shoura Council delegation visited Berlin at the invitation of the Bundestag.

Relations between Germany and Arabia began with a friendship treaty as early as 1929, three years before the Kingdom was proclaimed a nation. Germany has maintained formal diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia since 1954.