Moscow fears Yemen may slide into military-political chaos - Russian Foreign Ministry
MOSCOW. Dec 6 (Interfax) - Moscow is concerned about events in Yemen that followed the murder of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told a press briefing on Wednesday.
"Moscow is profoundly concerned about these negative events: there is a good chance of Yemen sliding into military-political chaos and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe," Zakharova said.
In Moscow's opinion, there is no way to avert this scenario but "to end the armed confrontation as soon as possible and to launch a national dialogue of maximum breadth under the UN aegis on principles of mutual respect and accounting of all Yemeni political forces' interests consistent with basic international legal norms," she said.
"Hopefully, leading international and regional actors will use the influence they have on the Yemeni sides in order to achieve [Yemeni] unity, stop the violence and use of force, and resume negotiations before the extremely dangerous state of national affairs passes the point of no return," Zakharova said.
The armed conflict in Yemen has been ongoing since March 2014. The Arab coalition supports the forces of Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi in his confrontation with insurgents.
Fierce clashes between supporters of former President Saleh and the Houthi insurgents, who previously fought Hadi and the coalition, began last week after the Saleh forces expressed their opposition to the Houthis.
Saleh was killed in a confrontation with the Houthis. The Houthi-run Yemeni Interior Ministry and the National Congress Party of the former president confirmed his death.