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US urges Yemen conflict sides to show restraint — Department of State

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also expressed US support to diplomatic efforts of its partners in the region - the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia

WASHINGTON, December 27. /TASS/. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has expressed his concern by the recent military escalation in southeast Yemen and urged both sides to show restraint.

"The United States is concerned by recent events in southeastern Yemen. We urge restraint and continued diplomacy, with a view to reaching a lasting solution," the top US diplomat wrote on the X social network.

Rubio also expressed US support to diplomatic efforts of its partners in the region - the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

On December 9, Aidarus al-Zoubaidi, chairperson of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, declared full control over the Hadhramaut and Al Mahrah governorates. Next-stage plans, he noted, include establishing institutions of a future state in southern Yemen. December 25, the Saudi Foreign Ministry slammed separatists’ actions as an unjustified escalation and urged the STC to withdraw its forces from the two regions. Earlier, Mustafa Ahmed Noman, deputy foreign minister in Yemen’s internationally recognized government, warned that Riyadh could give a tough response if the situation escalated.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday that Moscow was concerned about the escalation of the military-political situation in the southern Yemeni provinces of Hadramout and Mahra, and called on all parties involved to exercise restraint and seek mutually acceptable solutions to the problems.

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