Saudi foreign minister meets US counterpart in Washington

The pair spoke about enhancing relations between both states and discussed the situation in the region, including the war in Yemen and Syria.

"Secretary Tillerson and Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adelal Jubeir had important discussions on issues in the region that we're working cooperatively, including Syria, Yemen, stabilising the entire region, and our counterterrorism partnership," State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert tweeted.

Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the US Khaled bin Salman was also present at the meeting.

The Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, already one of the region's poorest nations, began in 2015.

The war has killed more than 8,750 people, in what the UN has described as the world's worst humanitarian crises.

Experts have accused the Saudi-led coalition of targeting civilians with airstrikes on markets and residential buildings.

A recent UN experts report revealed that the coalition failed to take appropriate measures "to mitigate the devastating impact of these attacks on civilian population".

"After nearly three years of conflict, Yemen as a state has all but ceased to exist," the report added.

"Instead of a single state, there are warring statelets, and no one side has the political support or the military strength to reunite the country or achieve victory on the battlefield."

Amnesty International has previously reported that US-made weapons were used in Saudi strikes on civilians.

The US President Donald Trump has announced billions of dollars in arms sales to Saudi Arabia since assuming office in January 2017.