Comment by the Information and Press Department on the upcoming visit to Moscow by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Republic of Yemen Abdulmalik Al-Mekhlafi

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Republic of Yemen Abdulmalik Al-Mekhlafi will come to Moscow on a working visit on January 21-23. He will hold talks with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and meet with Chairman of the State Duma International Affairs Committee Leonid Slutsky.

We view the upcoming meetings with the Yemeni Foreign Minister as part of our consistent work with the parties to the armed conflict which has been raging in Yemen for over two years, as well as with the concerned countries. We have always advocated an early end to the hostilities in Yemen and the settlement of the backlog of domestic problems through negotiations based on respect for the opinions of all the leading Yemeni political forces.

In this context, the talks in Moscow will focus on the developments in Yemen following the murder of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh by members of the Ansar Allah movement of the Houthis in December 2017. We are seriously concerned that these events, which have already rekindled violence between the Houthis and the groups loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, may provoke military and political chaos, which will delay a peaceful settlement for an indefinite period of time.

Of course, nobody can expect that the differences which have accumulated in Yemen can be overcome overnight. However, we are above all concerned about the dramatic socioeconomic situation in Yemen, which the UN has called the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. In this context, we call on the conflicting parties in Yemen to strictly comply with the provisions of international humanitarian law and highlight the importance of lifting restrictions on the delivery of food, medicines and other basic necessities to all Yemeni regions and of opening sea and air access to the country.

At the same time, we have taken practical measures to help the Yemenis, who are suffering from a famine and the shortage of basic social amenities and face dangerous epidemics. On July 18 and 24, 2017, we delivered 40 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Sana and Aden. We are also helping the Yemenis by making an annual contribution to the budget of the World Food Programme.

The crisis has had a direct impact on our relations with Yemen. Several joint projects in trade, the economy, culture, education and other spheres have been suspended because of hostilities. We hope to resume these projects when the situation is normalised and viable bodies of power are created in Yemen.