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Russia supports Saudi Arabia’s efforts toward settling Yemeni crisis - lawmaker

Under the Russian Concept of Collective Security in the Gulf, Russia is ready to help resolve this problem, Slutsky stressed

Russian State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Leonid Slutsky Gavriil Grigorov/TASS

Russian State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Leonid Slutsky

© Gavriil Grigorov/TASS

MOSCOW, January 7. /TASS/. Russia supports United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg’s and Saudi Arabia’s mediatory efforts toward finding a solution to the crisis in Yemen and is ready to help resolve this problem within the frames of the Russian Concept on Collective Security in the Gulf, a Russian lawmaker told TASS on Friday.

"We support the United Nation’s mediatory efforts, in particular of Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg, who has recently visited Moscow," said Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the international committee of the Russian State Duma, or lower parliament house. "We also support Saudi Arabia’s initiative on the crisis resolution, which is geared toward stabilizing the situation in the region and ensuring free navigation in the Bab El-Mandeb Strait, which has great importance for global trade. We are closely following the constructive steps in this direction taken by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, who has had several contacts on the Yemeni problem with his foreign counterparts in the recent days."

"Under the Russian Concept of Collective Security in the Gulf, Russia is ready to help resolve this problem," Slutsky stressed. "Fore these ends, we stress the importance of dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which will help remove protracted contradictions and improve the situation in the region in general."

The Russian lawmaker noted that the situation in Yemen is still tense and the United Nations describes the humanitarian situation as critical. "We call on all parties to stop hostilities and embark on the path of political and diplomatic settlement of the conflict in line with the United Nations Security Council resolutions and on the basis of the current negotiating platforms," he said.

Armed confrontation between government forces and Ansar Allah (Houthi) rebels has been going on in Yemen since August 2014, reaching the most active phase in March 2015 after the Saudi-led coalition invaded the country. The ongoing conflict has triggered the world’s gravest humanitarian crisis, with more than 24 million Yemenis, or about 80% of the country’s population, being in need for humanitarian aid and the number of internally displaced persons exceeding three million, according to the UN data.

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