Russia’s envoy hopes for success of Geneva consultations on Yemen

GENEVA, June 16. /TASS/. Russia’s envoy to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva Alexey Borodavkin said on Tuesday he hopes for success at the consultations on the Yemen crisis in the Swiss city. "We hope that the consultations will be fruitful and lay the foundation for settling the Yemeni crisis," Borodavkin said in an exclusive interview with TASS. Consultations on the situation in Yemen, where more than 2,500 people have been killed and 11,000 have been wounded, opened on Monday. "It is obvious that there are many difficulties on the way towards settlement. The first thing that needs to be done is to stop bloodshed in Yemen," Borodavkin said. The diplomat stressed that UN chief Ban Ki-moon has taken the "right decision" to have come to Geneva even without waiting for the arrival of the parties to the Yemeni conflict. "In the final end, this has contributed to that both sides - the delegation of the Yemeni government and the delegation of Houthi and representatives of ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh - have arrived in Geneva," he said. Borodavkin took part in the Geneva meeting on Monday between the UN chief and the representatives of the so-called Group 16 plus that consists of five permanent UN Security Council members, some Arab countries, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Turkey and the EU. The UN Secretary General "has set out his vision for the possible outcome of the Geneva consultations," Borodavkin told TASS. The focus was on the ceasefire, declaring humanitarian pauses, ensuring delivery of humanitarian aid to Yemen that has been hampered by the blockade and bombing, as well as on uniting efforts in the fight against Al-Qaeda and further political process aimed at restoring stability in Yemen, he said. The Group 16 plus has backed this approach, the diplomat said. Read more