UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — Any intervention by foreign ground forces in Yemeni conflict would only lead to a further escalation of the situation, Russia’s envoy to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said Thursday.
On Wednesday, Yemen’s Ambassador to the United Nations Khaled Alyemany addressed the UN Security Council calling on the international community to rapidly launch a ground military operation in his country and especially in the cities of Aden and Taiz so as to save Yemen from Houthi rebels.
“I think this would be reckless, this is an escalation of the situation. What we need is a speedy resumption of negotiations under the mediation of the United Nations,” Churkin said commenting on the call by the Yemeni envoy.
“Lately I have conducted good and active meetings with the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), very good meetings with the Permanent Representatives of Saudi Arabia and Qatar. We agreed on the need for speedy resumption of negotiations,” Churkin added.
For months now, Yemen has been engulfed in a bloody conflict between the Shiite Houthi rebels – an opposition group that captured large parts of the country and forced the elected authorities to resign – and forces loyal to Yemen’s President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.
In late March, the situation in the country deteriorated when a Saudi Arabia-led international coalition started conducting airstrikes against Houthi positions in Yemen at Hadi's request.
