de-escalate

But the message from Al-Houthi was always the same: He would only de-escalate if Israel stopped its war in Gaza.

But it was a battle of wills and economic pain set the two nations on a path that ultimately led to Thursday's meeting and an agreement on both sides to de-escalate.

"And it has escalated to de-escalate, which is a very new tactic."

“My question is, if this man was a retired police officer, if there was an argument, why couldn’t he de-escalate that?” she said.

But while efforts to de-escalate are good news for investors, geopolitical analysts are tempering their expectations for the South Korea meeting, which they see as largely about restabilizing the relationship.