Lavrov: ‘US measures against Yemen have led to conflict expansion’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov proclaimed that US measures of launching missile attacks on Yemeni territory have led to “expanding the scope of the conflict.”

This came during a joint press conference on Tuesday with Yemeni Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak after both parties met in Moscow.

Lavrov added: “The increasing tension in the waters of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden due to the Yemeni Houthis’ attack on commercial ships is the result of the growing tension in the Palestinian-Israeli issue, and the Yemen crisis that has been ongoing for nine years.”

“Regardless of the reason, we reject attacks on commercial ships, and we also reject the aggressive actions of the US and UK on Yemeni territory,” he continued.

Lavrov stressed that the continued violence in the Gaza Strip will create military and political risks in the region.

“Ensuring the security of international ships in the Red Sea must be a priority for all responsible members of the international community, and the problem must be resolved through political and diplomatic means,” he asserted.

Lavrov pointed out that the US Operation Prosperity Guardian: “Resulted in launching missile attacks on Yemeni territory, which led to negative consequences and expanded the conflict zone.”

He noted that the Houthis’ actions in the Red Sea negatively affect global trade, stressing the need to create the necessary conditions for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, opening humanitarian corridors and resuming the negotiation process between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

Since the beginning of the year, the Washington-led Operation Prosperity Guardian coalition has launched raids that it says target “Houthi sites” in various regions of Yemen in response to its attacks in the Red Sea.

The Houthis have been targeting cargo ships linked to Israel in the Red Sea using missiles and drones, in solidarity with the Gaza Strip, which has been facing a genocidal war by Isreal since 7 October.

With the intervention of Washington and London and the tensions escalating noticeably in January, the Houthi group announced that it now considered all US and British ships among its military targets.

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