Moscow seeks an immediate ceasefire, dialog in Yemen, says Mideast envoy

MOSCOW, February 25. /TASS/. Moscow comes out in favor of an immediate ceasefire and the start of a national dialog, Russian president’s Middle East envoy, Mikhail Bogdanov, told a news conference at the Valdai discussion club titled "Middle East: From Violence to Safety". "An immediate ceasefire and resumption of intra-Yemeni consultations are seen as the main tasks in the emerging circumstances," said Bogdanov, who is Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister. "Russia, on its part, will continue work in the interests of a peace settlement of the crisis in Yemen," the diplomat confirmed. "We expect that opportunities will appear in March to bring the worrying Yemeni parties to the negotiating table," he added. Confrontation between the country’s authorities supported by Saudi Arabia and the Houthis has continued in Yemen since August 2014. In January 2015, allies of Ansar Allah (Partisans of God), which is also known as the Houthi movement, seized the capital, Sanaa. President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi fled the capital first to Aden, and after the Houthis entered that city on March 25, he fled the country. A coalition led by Saudi Arabia, and also including Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, responded to his request and has continued air strikes on Houthi targets from March 26, 2015. Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Sudan also joined the coalition. Read more