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Lavrov emphasizes need to build national dialogue in Yemen

Lavrov urges to build a broad national dialogue involving all of Yemen’s leading political forces under the United Nations umbrella

MOSCOW, November 1. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Yemeni counterpart Khaled al-Yamani have called for finding an early solution to the long-standing military and political crisis Yemen has been facing, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

According to the ministry, on November 1, the two top diplomats exchanged congratulatory messages on the 90th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Russia and Yemen. "The foreign ministers called for finding an early solution to the long-standing military and political crisis Yemen has been going through," the statement reads.

In this connection, Lavrov reiterated the need to build a broad national dialogue involving all of Yemen’s leading political forces, under the United Nations umbrella," the Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out. "It was also said that the restoration of peace and unity in the country would pave the way for the full resumption of comprehensive ties between Russia and Yemen," the statement added.

Yemen conflict

The war between Yemen’s government, recognized by the global community, and the Houthi rebels from the Ansar Allah group has been raging since August 2014. The conflict entered an active phase when a Saudi-led coalition invaded the country at the request of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. Saudi Arabia, supported by the air forces of Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, is involved in a military operation against the rebels. Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Sudan are also part of the coalition.

According to the Yemeni Center for Human Rights and Development, since the spring of 2015, more than 10,000 civilians have been killed, including nearly 2,400 children and about 2,000 women. At the same time, around 18,500 Yemenis suffered wounds. The United Nations says that three-thirds of the Yemeni population are in need of aid, while the number of internally displaced persons has exceeded two mln.