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Russian UN envoy urges US to reverse move to label Houthis as terrorists

On Sunday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the US is planning to place the Houthis on the terrorist list

UNITED NATIONS, January 14. /TASS/. Russia is calling on the US to review its decision to place Yemen’s Ansar Allah Houthi movement on the terrorist list, Russia’s permanent envoy to the UN Vassily Nebenzia told a UN Security Council meeting on Yemen Thursday.

"The US decision to recognize the Ansar Allah movement as a terrorist organization can have destructive consequences for the peaceful process in Yemen as it not only threatens to extremely complicate the humanitarian situation in the country but also nullify the UN efforts to launch talks between the opposing parties," he said. "Considering that this decision is yet to come into force, we are calling on the US to review it."

"We are at a critical crossroads," Nebenzia added. "If we make unforgivable mistakes, the eventual settlement will be undermined, while long-lasting efforts on this track will be derailed."

On Sunday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the US is planning to place the Houthis on the terrorist list. The move particularly entails freezing of assets in the US and a ban for US citizens and companies to do business with the labelled terrorists.

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