Dubai: A meeting between internationally recognised Yemeni president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi and the UN Special Envoy for Yemen Esmail Ould Shaikh Ahmad on Tuesday failed to bridge differences between the Yemeni government and the opposition before peace talks resume on Friday.

Hadi reiterated his refusal to attend peace talks in Kuwait as long as a solution is imposed on the government that is not based on UN Resolution 2216, according to media reports.

The declaration is effectively a rejection of Ould Shaikh Ahmad’s road map out of the conflict, which calls for a unity government that represents the Hadi government, independents, as well as the Al Houthi-Saleh rebel alliance that Hadi’s forces are fighting against.

Under the road map, the new government would be responsible for implementing Resolution 2216, including overseeing the handover of weapons seized by the rebels, the return of control of cities occupied by them and the overseeing of parliamentary and presidential elections in two years.

“We don’t want anything from you with the exception to an adherence to international resolutions,” Hadi told the envoy, as quoted in Saudi-owned Al Hayat. He then reportedly told Ould Shaikh Ahmad that there will be no return to talks without such guarantees.

Media reports have cast doubt on the possibility of talks resuming in Kuwait this Friday as long as the UN envoy stands by his proposed road map.

Observers suggested that with the stalemate continuing, the Hadi government and its allies are likely to shift their focus away from diplomacy and towards regaining the occupied capital, Sana’a, by force. The move, which observers say highlights the frustration of Hadi as well as the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen, is aimed at forcing Al Houthis back to the negotiating table to make concessions.

In the Riyadh meeting, where Vice President Ali Mohsen Al Ahmar was also present, Hadi reportedly told the UN envoy that his government had offered many concessions, but was met with nothing other than a “mirage” of peace, adding that Al Houthis’ aims through talks was to put a halt to air strikes so it can buy time to continue its aggression on the ground.

On Wednesday, parties and political organisations loyal to Hadi wrote to him asking him to postpone a decision to join the talks on Friday until the rebels declare a commitment to Resolution 2216 without preconditions and with the supervision of the international community.