Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, announced that after the killing of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, at the hands of the Houthis, Russia is seriously concerned about the development of events in Yemen, as there is the great risk that it slips into military and political chaos accompanied by an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.
Since the end of November, the Yemeni capital has been the scene of deadly clashes between the troops loyal to Saleh and the rebels.
Russia sees no alternative to launching the "widest possible national dialogue under the aegis of the United Nations on the basis of mutual respect and taking into account the interests of all political forces in Yemen". Russia, Zakharova added, "hopes that regional and international actors will exploit the influence they exert on the parties to the Yemeni conflict to persuade them to stop the violence and end hostilities through political means".