Moscow coordinates its efforts in the settlement of the Yemeni crisis with Riyadh and Washington whose involvement in the peace effort is essential, Vladimir Dedushkin, the Russian ambassador to Yemen, said Friday.
GENEVA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th September, 2018) Moscow coordinates its efforts in the settlement of the Yemeni crisis with Riyadh and Washington whose involvement in the peace effort is essential, Vladimir Dedushkin, the Russian ambassador to Yemen, said Friday.
"As you know, the United States and Saudi Arabia are one of the main external players on the Yemeni field, just like Russia. It makes sense that it would be impossible to overcome the deadlock in the Yemeni crisis settlement without their positions and their good will," Dedushkin told reporters in Geneva.
Dedushkin added that Russia maintained communications with the United States and Saudi Arabia in unilateral and multilateral formats, including through the UN Security Council.
The Geneva consultations on the settlement of the conflict between the Yemeni government and the rebel Houthi movement were supposed to start on Thursday. However, on Wednesday, the Houthis claimed their delegation was not allowed by the Saudi-led coalition, which controls Yemeni airspace, to leave the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. However, according to the coalition spokesman, Turki Maliki, the Houthi delegation had been authorized to depart for the talks.
The Russian ambassador noted that all the parties involved in the settlement talks were engaged in discussing the conditions for bringing the Houthi delegation to negotiations in Geneva.
"I will be honest with you, I am maintaining constant contact with both delegations. I am in constant contact with the delegation from Sanaa ... So I possess full information. After receiving this information, I immediately share it with UN Special Envoy [for Yemen] Martin Griffiths. He appreciates our help very much," the diplomat pointed out.
Dedushkin stated that not every country had as much influence on the Yemeni peace process as Russia, since Moscow, unlike western countries, managed to maintain good relations will all the Yemeni parties.
"Unlike our western partners ... We do not divide Yemen ... in order to support some forces against others, or consider some Yemenis better than the others, or determine who should be blamed for the crisis. It is not our business, it is up to Yemenis to resolve this issue," Dedushkin argued.
The Yemeni government and Houthi delegations met for the previous time in 2016 when the parties failed to reach an agreement during talks held under UN auspices.
The Yemeni conflict has been raging since 2015. The situation in the country is deteriorated by an acute economic crisis, the spread of famine and various diseases.
UN figures show that between March 2015 and August 2018, 6,660 civilians were killed and 10,563 injured in Yemen. The United Nations notes, however, that the real figures are likely to be significantly higher.
