KUWAIT CITY — The Yemeni government said Thursday Houthi rebels must withdraw from all territory they have seized since 2014 and hand back control of state institutions ahead of any political settlement. 

It added that nothing has been agreed upon in two months of negotiations.

The statement from the government delegation to peace talks in Kuwait is a new blow to proposals put forward by UN mediators in an effort to close the gap between the warring parties. On Wednesday, the rebel delegation said it would not sign up to any deal on military and security issues until there was agreement on a consensus president and a national unity government to oversee the transition.

The peace roadmap put forward by UN envoy Esmail Ould Shaikh Ahmed proposed the formation of a unity government in tandem with the withdrawal and disarmament of the rebels, although he acknowledged major differences between the two sides on their sequencing.

“There can be no talk of any political arrangements before the (Houthi) militias completely withdraw and hand over their weapons, and state institutions and agencies are restored to the legitimate government,” the government delegation said in a statement.

Despite a 15-month-old Saudi-led military intervention in support of the government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, Houthis and their allies remain in control of swathes of territory they have overran since 2014, including the capital Sana’a.

More than 6,400 people have been killed since the intervention began, the majority of them civilians, and there has been growing international pressure for an end to the conflict. But as the talks in Kuwait have dragged on, there have been a growing number of breaches of a UN-brokered ceasefire that went into effect on April 11.

Residents of Nadara in central Yemen said Houthi fighters shot dead seven farmers on Thursday while searching for the leader of a pro-government militia.