Russian foreign minister urges conflicting parties in Yemen to spare no effort to begin talks

MOSCOW, April 7. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who had a telephone conversation with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry, urged conflicting parties in Yemen to do their best to launch talks, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday, adding that the telephone conversation had been initiated by the Egyptian side. "The conversation centered round the situation in Yemen and around it," the ministry noted. "Sergei Lavrov stressed the necessity of bringing the situation to the political track. He underscored that the parties to the conflict must do their utmost to begin talks." Shoukry "spoke against escalation of violence, noting that the Egyptian side was taking effort to find ways of settling the Yemeni crisis." Lavrov informed the Egyptian diplomat about Russia’s steps towards normalization in Libya and Syria. The two ministers agreed to continue cooperation in these areas, the ministry added. Since August 2014, Yemen has been suffering from a severe political and security crisis. In late January, the armed groups of Ansar Allah /Houthi rebels/ forced the president and the government to announce resignation. The situation began to aggravate at the end of March. After the rebels took control of the country’s capital and several northern provinces, Yemen’s President Abd Rabuh Mansur Hadi fled the country. They also announced the adoption of the so-called constitutional declaration. Overnight to March 26, Saudi Arabia’s air force supported by aviation of Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates launched an operation Decisive Storm against the Houthis . Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan and Sudan joined the Saudi-led coalition. On April 4, Russia proposed a draft resolution in the UN Security Council that called for establishing "regular and obligatory" pauses in military actions in Yemen for evacuating people and ensuring "safe and unhampered humanitarian access" to provide assistance to people. Read more