MOSCOW, December 10. /TASS/. Another round of negotiations between the Yemeni government and members of the Ansar Allah Houthi movement will be held in the second half of January in a Middle Eastern country, Russian Ambassador to Yemen Vladimir Dedushkin, who is taking part in the intra-Yemeni consultations underway in Sweden, told TASS.
"UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths intends to complete the negotiations within the announced timeframes, that is, by December 14, as planned. He also plans to hold the final session, during which the next round of talks will be announced. It has not yet been decided where it will be held, but this will tentatively happen in the second half of January in one of the Middle Eastern countries neighboring Yemen," the diplomat said.
According to the ambassador, despite the fact that the negotiations are complex, there is a visible progress in them. "It is essential that the negotiation format has been endorsed for the first time, with six groups on major issues set up. This format is likely to be preserved during the next round of negotiations," he pointed out.
The diplomat noted that a major breakthrough had been achieved in the prisoner exchange issue. "The exchange schedule has actually been agreed on, and the venues have been determined," he said. "On Monday, the parties are due to exchange the final lists of prisoners. Their total number is about 1,500-2,000 people on each side."
Dedushkin stressed that the five UN Security Council permanent members (Russia, the United States, China, France and the United Kingdom) spoke with a unified voice during the consultations. "Intense work is underway, the five countries’ representatives meet daily. On Sunday, two separate meetings were held with each of the delegation as well as a meeting with Griffiths and a meeting with a delegation of Yemeni women," the diplomat said. "One can note that during all these negotiations, especially with the government and Houthi delegations the five [UN Security Council permanent members] spoke with a unified voice agreed in advance, with Russia’s opinion undoubtedly taken into account. In general, there are no fundamental disagreements, the work is proceeding smoothly, and we have full understanding with the Americans on the Yemeni issue."
Sweden is hosting consultations between Yemen’s government and members of the Ansar Allah Houthi rebel movement on December 5-13. The previous consultations between the parties to the Yemeni conflict were due to be held in Geneva in early September. However, members of the Ansar Allah movement did not attend them.