Moscow in Talks with Riyadh to Help End Saudi-Led War on Yemen: Lavrov
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Russia is consistently holding talks with Saudi Arabia about taking the situation in Yemen out of the dimension of using force, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday.
Russian authorities maintain contacts with the Saudi Arabian leadership on the situation in Yemen, "including both representatives of the president and the opposition," Lavrov noted.
"We communicate with partners from Saudi Arabia on a daily basis, they help ensure security for every plane (Russian planes evacuating civilians from Yemen)," the foreign minister said.
"So far, we managed to avoid any unpleasant incidents during last flights," he added.
"We are discussing with our Saudi partners the tasks of taking the situation from the dimension of using force and starting negotiations (on settling the crisis in Yemen)," the foreign minister was quoted by Itar-Tass as saying.
Over the last days, Russian planes evacuated around 600 people from Yemen, mostly women and children. The last plane brought 159 evacuated Russian and CIS nationals from Sana’a to Moscow earlier today.
Russia hopes that its initiative on establishing a humanitarian truce in Yemen, submitted to the UN Security Council, will be approved at the Council meeting on Monday evening, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"The partners have taken a break to consider our humanitarian truce proposal," he said. "But today the consultations should be held after all. I hope this initiative will be approved," Lavrov added.