DOHA, October 2 – Novosti. Russia expressed concern over the lack of progress in extending the truce in Yemen, which expires on Sunday, calling on the parties to the conflict to intensify efforts to reach an agreement on its extension, the Russian Embassy in Yemen said on Twitter.
“Russia, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, is concerned about the lack of progress in securing an agreement to extend the truce until its expiration on October 2. We urge the parties to the conflict to intensify communication with the UN Special Representative in order to agree on an extension of the truce,” the embassy said in a statement.
Chargé d’Affaires of the Russian Embassy in Yemen Yevgeny Kudrov “confirmed support for the efforts of the UN Special Envoy”, noting the “tangible benefits that the truce brought to both the Yemenis and regional security” and urging the parties “not to squander the results achieved.” He stated that there is no military solution to the conflict in Yemen, pointing out that the extension of the truce is aimed at achieving a comprehensive political settlement in Yemen through negotiations.
The UN Special Envoy for Yemen is taking intensive steps to extend the truce, which expires on Sunday, amid conditions put forward to each other by both sides of the conflict – the Yemeni government and the Shiite group Ansar Allah – for its renewal.
Thus, the Yemeni government requires the Houthis to fulfill the conditions put forward for the conclusion of the previous truce, including the opening of roads in the central province of Taiz under their control and the payment of wages to civil servants in areas controlled by the group from the income of ships with oil products entering the port of Hodeidah under their control on Red Sea in West Yemen.
At the same time, the Houthis announced on Saturday that talks to extend the truce had stalled, blaming the Saudi- led Arab coalition , which, according to the Houthi delegation at the talks, “continues to bombard Yemen with spy planes and has not fulfilled the condition on resumption of flights from Sanaa to Cairo”. The Houthis link the extension of the truce to the fulfillment of their conditions for the payment of salaries to civil servants in their territories from the proceeds from the sale of oil and gas produced in government-controlled lands, as well as the lifting of the blockade of the coalition from North Yemen.
In Yemen, since August 2014, the confrontation between government forces and armed groups of the Houthis has continued. It entered its most active phase with the invasion of the country in March 2015 by a coalition led by Saudi Arabia.
In early August, the internationally recognized Yemeni authorities and the Ansar Allah movement decided to extend the truce concluded in April for another two months, until October 2.
