Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at UNSC Briefing on Yemen

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October 15, 2024

Madam President,

We thank the Special Envoy Hans Grundberg, and the Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Joyce Msuya for their briefings. We also listened carefully to the statement made by professor Najat Jumaan.

Madam President,

Tensions in Yemen continue unabated. Moreover, the situation tends to worsen because Yemen is becoming increasingly dragged into a wider regional conflict amid ongoing violence in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and other areas of the Middle East.

We underscore Russia’s unchanged position with regard to supporting the safety of international navigation in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and other waters. We believe that Ansar Allah must cease any actions that impede freedom of navigation and pose a danger to commercial vessels, including fuel tankers. We call for an immediate release of the Galaxy Leader and its crew.

However, we are convinced that, in order to truly stabilize the situation in the seas off the coast of Yemen, equal pressure should be exerted on the members of the so-called “coalition” led by the United States and the United Kingdom, who continue weekly and quite indiscriminately to attack the territory of that sovereign country, violating the norms of international law. Such subversive activities suggest their real motives, which are obviously far from achieving a genuine settlement in Yemen within the existing parameters. However, the similar playbook has been used by our western partners in other countries of the region as well. We emphasize that strikes against Yemen are unacceptable. At the same time, the destruction of its port infrastructure could have the most disastrous humanitarian consequences. Still, it is obvious to everyone who keeps track of regional developments that the first step to normalizing the situation in the Red Sea would be to end Israel’s aggressive military campaign in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria.

Madam President,

Whatever prospects for resolving the situation in the Middle East as a whole may be, we consider it important to continue active political and diplomatic work with Yemeni political forces. Along with the reinforcement of recent achievements in resolving the internal Yemeni contradictions in the economic sphere, there is a need for further progressive movement towards finalizing the road map for the political process in the country. We note the importance of harmonizing international efforts and the actions of regional actors aimed at facilitating a rapprochement between the positions of the parties to the conflict. In addition, there is still a need to update the legal and regulatory framework for a Yemeni settlement so that it better reflects the situation on the ground.

To resolve these and other issues, we intend to continue closely coordinating our approaches with all Yemeni stakeholders, including Ansar Allah, urging them to find mutually acceptable solutions and build confidence. We also stand ready to continue supporting Special Envoy H. Grundberg, with whom we had consultations in Moscow last week.

Madam President,

Unfortunately, the humanitarian and socio-economic situation in the country remains dire. Two thirds of the population of Yemen are in need of humanitarian assistance, and more than three million people are food insecure. We believe that the international community and donors should prioritize finding a solution to this problem. We welcome the mediation work done by regional actors who are already assisting the Yemenis on the financial and humanitarian tracks. The people of this long-suffering country should have unimpeded access to food, medicine and other essential goods regardless of where they live. Any restrictions on humanitarian supplies, as well as obstruction of the humanitarian work, are unacceptable.

We would like to express our concern regarding the detention by the Ansar Allah movement of locally recruited UN staff in Yemen. In this context, we would like to remind about the privileges and immunities that the staff of the World Organization possesses. Such steps have a negative impact on the activities of the United Nations and humanitarian workers there, which, as usual, will hit ordinary people first and foremost.

At the same time, it is important to avoid double standards. The desire of certain western countries to sound an alarm about the problems of UN personnel in Yemen is in stark contrast to their reaction – or, rather, almost complete absence of reaction – to the deaths of dozens of UN staff in Gaza as the result of Israeli strikes, and to regular attacks by the IDF on the UNIFIL peacekeepers, who nonetheless continue to discharge their duty. It is crucial that our western colleagues extend their principled approach to the situation around UNRWA, which the Israeli authorities are seeking to squeeze out of Palestinian territory. We urge Council members not to allow such egregious and blatant double standards.

I thank you.

 

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