Pentagon chief James Mattis said the US had been watching the conflict ‘for long enough’, and believes Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are ready for talks. The comments came as the military coalition deployed over 10,000 new troops towards a vital rebel-held port city in the run-up to a new assault. Mattis said, ‘We have got to move toward a peace effort here, and we can't say we are going to do it sometime in the future. We need to be doing this in the next thirty days.’ His comments came at the US Institute of Peace, whose president, Kevin Martin, said that the Yemen needs peace right now, and even thirty days to halt fighting is too long. He added, ‘I think the Trump administration is trying to get out ahead of a stampede. Congress, public opinion and the media have all turned very much against this war.’ See also the UK article ‘Boris Johnson and the Saudis’.