MOSCOW, March 27. /TASS/. The situation in Yemen has a few resemblances with the Ukrainian developments, which can be assessed as nothing other than a coup, Russian Federation Council’s International Affairs Committee head Konstantin Kosachev said on Friday.
"The situation in Yemen is explosive because we are talking about heavily armed sides in the conflict that are almost equal in force and ready for military actions against each other, which can lead to a full-scale civil war," Kosachev said.
The lawmaker expressed concern with the fact that both sides in the conflict "have external support." "More than that, now we see Saudi Arabia’s direct military intervention in the conflict without the UN sanction, and the League of Arab Nations made a corresponding decision after the Saudis started military actions," he stressed.
Kosachev said he is confused with double standards that the West demonstrates in assessing this conflict, which "has many resemblances with the Ukrainian situation." What happened in Yemen "cannot be qualified as anything other than a coup," he stressed. "It is clear that the resemblances [with the situation in Ukraine] are not large-scale and there are many differences and nuances, but standards of assessing such situations should at least be along the same line," he stressed.
The current situation once again proves that there are no standards in the American foreign policy, only interests that guide some values to the forefront while other values are ignored, Kosachev said. American policy provokes conflicts like those in Ukraine and Yemen, and "no one is protected from the repetition of such scenarios in other unstable countries," he said. "This causes great concern," the lawmaker concluded.
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Moscow concerned with developments in Yemen
Moscow is concerned with the latest developments in Yemen amid deteriorating military and security situation in the country, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
"Units of the Ansar Allah movement launched an offensive on the second most important city in the country, Aden. In response, Saudi Arabia aviation delivered strikes at several positions on the territory of Yemen, including in the capital of Sanaa, overnight to March 26," the foreign ministry said. "Riyadh, supported by Arab states of the Persian Gulf [except Oman], several other countries and with logistical aid from US, is acting in accordance with the request of Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi," the statement added.
"According to preliminary information, there are victims among civilians and among militants from the Ansar Allah movement," the foreign ministry said. "Russian Embassy in Sanaa and General Consulate in Aden continue their work after strengthening security. No Russian citizens permanently residing in Yemen were injured in the night strikes, according to our diplomatic agencies," the statement said.
"Moscow expresses its gravest concern with the latest developments in the friendly Yemen Republic. Russia has always consistently supported the country’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity," the foreign ministry said. "Along with that, we consider it especially important that all sides in the Yemen conflict and their foreign allies immediately stop all military actions and attempts to reach their goals with weapons," the ministry stressed. "We are convinced that deep disagreements existing in Yemen now can only be solved by nationwide dialogue," it added.
"In its turn, Russia, in its contacts with all parties involved in the Yemen developments, continues to build up, including on the UN platform, efforts on soonest resolution of the military conflict in Yemen," the foreign ministry said.
Crisis in Yemen
Since August 2014, Yemen has been hit by 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 rebels later took control of the country’s capital and several northern provinces. They also announced the adoption of the so-called constitutional declaration.
Overnight to March 26, Saudi Arabia launched a military operation in the neighboring country and delivered air strikes at several Houthi positions.
Pro-government forces regained control of the Aden airport early on Thursday, while Yemeni President Abd Rabbah Mansur Hadi fled the country to Saudi Arabia.