MOSCOW, January 18. /TASS/. It is hard to make any predictions about talks with the Houthis, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at his annual news conference devoted to reviewing Moscow’s main foreign policy achievements in 2023.

"Consultations with the Houthis on the Yemen issue were earlier initiated by Saudi Arabia, and they were fruitful. I find it hard to say if it’s possible to resume the talks or when this could be done," he noted, when asked how the country could get out of diplomatic isolation.

Lavrov pointed out that right now, "the most important thing to do is to put an end to the act of aggression against Yemen because the more strikes the Americans and the British carry out the less inclined the Houthis will be to engage in talks."

Following the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis said they would strike Israeli territory and prevent ships with ties to Israel from passing through the waters of the Red Sea and the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait until the operation in the Palestinian enclave was halted. According to the US Central Command, the Houthis have attacked over 20 civilian ships in the Red Sea since mid-November.

On the night of January 12, US and British aircraft, ships and submarines for the first time attacked targets belonging to the Ansar Allah Houthi movement in a number of Yemeni cities, including Sana’a and Hodeidah. US President Joe Biden claimed that the attack was "in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks" in the Red Sea. The US administration said that the strikes targeted the launch sites of rockets and unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as radar stations belonging to the Houthi rebels. The US and the UK carried out another strike on Yemen on Thursday, January 18.