UNITED NATIONS, March 15. /TASS/. The US and UK actions in the Red Sea only make matters worse, with the worst-case scenario currently unfolding in the region, Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said.
"From the outset, we warned that such action and such a decision was a breach of international law. And of course, we do not support such actions. We do not support the gunboat diplomacy. As I said, this is the choice of the United States and United Kingdom, and we are absolutely sure that this will bring about no pacification of situation, but only make things absolutely worse. We will see, but I think that so far the worst predictions about what's happening in the Red Sea are coming true," he told reporters.
Following the escalation of the conflict in the Gaza Strip, the Ansar Allah movement warned that it would carry out strikes on Israeli territory and prevent ships affiliated with it from passing through the waters of the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait as long as the operation in the Palestinian enclave continued. Since mid-November last year, the Houthis have attacked dozens of civilian vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
In response to Ansar Allah's actions, US authorities formed an international coalition and launched Operation Prosperity Guardian in an attempt to ensure freedom of shipping and security in the Red Sea. On January 12, the armed forces of Britain and the United States, using planes, ships and submarines, for the first time hit the Houthis’ facilities in a number of cities in Yemen. The targets included the rebels’ missile and drone sites and radars.