MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/. The US strikes on Yemen are fueling the Middle East conflict, Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov said.

"You can declare anything you want while carrying out military strikes on the territory of a modern state (Yemen - TASS). And what is this but a desire to fuel conflict in the Middle East," he said during a Rossiya-24 TV broadcast, commenting on the White House statement that the US does not seek conflict with Yemen.

"If they don't seek conflict with Yemen, let them help resolve the situation in Gaza. This is the root of the situation in the Red Sea and the actions of the Houthis and the forces under their leadership," the diplomat added.

At the same time, Viktorov said that Washington's actions toward Yemen "only add fuel to the fire and completely contradict all the statements heard from the US officials."

In the early morning hours of January 12, UK and UK forces attacked Houthi targets in a number of Yemeni cities, including Dhamar, Saada, Sana'a, Taiz and Hodeidah. US President Joe Biden said that the strike on Yemen was ordered in response to "unprecedented Houthi attacks" in the Red Sea and that the strikes targeting Houthi munitions depots, launching systems, production facilities, and air defense radar systems were delivered "in self-defense." On January 13, a naval base near the Red Sea port of Hodeidah came under attack. The aircraft carrier USS Carney struck an airfield north of the Yemeni capital with Tomahawk missiles.

After the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis warned that they would launch strikes on Israeli territory and would not allow ships associated with it to pass through the waters of the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait until the operation in the Palestinian enclave stopped. According to estimates by US Central Command, the Houthis have attacked more than 20 vessels and civilian ships in the Red Sea since mid-November.