Russia Not Justifying Houthi Strikes on Ships or UK-US Actions in Yemen, Says Lavrov
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia does not justify either strikes by the Houthis' on commercial ships in the Red Sea, or actions by the UK and the US in Yemen, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday.
"We do not justify shelling of commercial ships, no matter how these shellings are justified. But we also cannot justify the aggressive actions that, under this pretext, the United States and the United Kingdom are taking against the territory of Yemen, without having any international mandate for this.," Lavrov said at a joint press conference with the prime minister of Yemen's internationally recognized government, Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak.
Actions by the United States and the United Kingdom disrupt peace efforts in Yemen, the minister added.
Actions of the Houthi movement hamper the peace process in Yemen, Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak said on Tuesday.
"We are always open to and welcome various initiatives aimed at achieving peace. We are ready to study and work with them. But unfortunately, as before, we are faced with the fact that, due to the escalation of events in the Red Sea caused by the Houthis, we are unable to work effectively in this direction, because such steps by the Houthis undermine security and stability in the region and prevent us from working to achieve an internal Yemeni consensus," the prime minister said in Moscow during a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov.
The Houthi actions in the Red Sea do not help the Palestinian cause, as they are "working" on the internal agenda, the prime minister added.
