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Russia calls for negotiations to settle Yemen conflict

Friday, 01 January 2016 3:00 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 01 January 2016 3:12 AM ]

Workers inspect a building destroyed in a Saudi airstrike in Sana’a, Yemen, December 30, 2015. ©AP

Russia has called on all parties involved in the months-long Yemeni crisis to cease hostilities and try to solve their problems through negotiations and dialogue.

“We consider it necessary to repeat our insistent call to all the sides to immediately stop the combat actions and settle all the current problems at the negotiating table,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement released on Thursday.

It added, “The resumption of the inter-Yemeni political process planned for January 2016, with the assistance of UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, provides a good opportunity for this. We will provide relevant support to these efforts.”

The statement further deplored the situation in Yemen, saying it “continues to cause serious concerns.”

A Yemeni young man lies on a hospital bed after he was injured in a Saudi airstrike against Ansarullah fighters and their allies in Ta’izz, southern Yemen, on December 29, 2015. ©AFP

“A matter of special concerns is the situation in Yemeni largest cities, namely Ta’izz, where battles have lasted for a month and a half, and in Aden, where authorities and government bodies cannot confront al-Qaeda and other extremist organizations," it pointed out.

On December 17, the warring sides in the ongoing conflict in Yemen reached an agreement during UN-mediated talks in Switzerland on a full and immediate resumption of humanitarian assistance to conflict-stricken areas in the south of the impoverished country

The two sides agreed to allow humanitarian convoys to reach the affected areas in the city of Ta’izz.

The participants in the talks had earlier agreed to exchange hundreds of prisoners taken during the conflict in the country. The swap included 375 fighters from the Houthi Ansarullah movement and 285 militiamen loyal to the fugitive former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, and took place along the boundary between Yemen’s southwestern province of Lahij and the central province of Bayda.

This handout picture released by UN Photo shows a general view of the room at the opening of Yemen peace talks on December 15, 2015 in Magglingen, northern Switzerland. ©AFP

Yemen has been under military attacks by Saudi Arabia since late March.

More than 7,500 people have been killed and over 14,000 others injured since March. The strikes have also taken a heavy toll on the impoverished country’s facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools and factories.

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