(CNN) Officials from Yemen's internationally-recognized government are set to hold direct talks with Houthi rebels in Sweden on Thursday in the most significant step to end the country's conflict in more than two years.

The UN-sponsored talks come amid growing international pressure for a ceasefire as the humanitarian crisis worsens in the country after more than three years of war.

As many as 14 million Yemenis are suffering severe food shortages, aid agencies say, while an estimated 85,000 children under the age of 5 may have already died of starvation, according to Save the Children.

The Yemeni Houthi delegation arrived in Sweden late Tuesday for the talks, along with the UN's special envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, whose diplomacy has helped bring the warring parties together. Earlier, Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström confirmed that Kuwait mediators had arrived.

Kuwait hosted the last direct peace talks in 2016, which failed after Houthi rebels rejected a UN proposal aimed at ending the war. Yemeni government officials left the discussions shortly afterward.

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