KUWAIT CITY, October 12. /TASS/. Ali Abdullah Saleh, the former president of Yemen, called on Russia to step in as a mediator in the settlement of the ongoing crisis in his country, local news web portal reported on Wednesday.
According to the news web portal Saleh held talks on Wednesday with Russia’s temporarily appointed envoy to Yemen Andrey Chernovol.
"I call on Russia, which is a mighty power having influence and a broad spectrum of relations with other peaceful nations, to work on the adoption of a resolution in the UN Security Council regarding the halt of aggression against the Yemeni people, the lift-off of naval, air and ground blockade," Saleh said.
The confrontation between Yemen’s authorities and the Houthis intensified in August 2014. In January 2015, allies of Ansar Allah (Partisans of God), which is also known as the Houthi movement, seized the capital Sanaa.
Starting last March Saudi Arabia conducted a military air operation with the support of certain Arab states against the Houthi movement Ansar Allah. According to the UN, over 3,700 civilians were killed and more than 6,500 wounded in the fighting since March 2015.