US using Yemen sanctions to promote mercantile interests: Russia envoy

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
14 Nov 2023 22:56
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The UNSC has voted to extend sanctions on Yemen for the next 12 months, as Russia's representative calls out the United States for promoting its economic interests in the region.

Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), seen on a screen as he speaks to members of the UNSC at the UN headquarters, on October 30, 2023. (AP)

The United States is attempting to promote its economic interests in Yemen rather than bring forward a solution that would achieve peace in the country, Russian Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Dmitry Polyanskiy said on Tuesday.

"The actions of the US are particularly cynical, in particular Washington’s attempt to use the current international sanctions against Yemen to promote narrow mercantile aims that are far from achieving peace in this long suffering country," Polyanskiy said during a meeting at the UN Security Council.

The Russian diplomat's comments come after the UN Security Council voted unanimously on a British-proposed resolution to renew sanctions on the country, which has been experiencing a US-Saudi-led aggression that has entered its ninth year.

The Permanent Representative of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations and the President of the UNSC announced that the decision was adopted unanimously by the council's members.

The extension of sanctions on the country comes amid a humanitarian crisis that originated precisely from the siege imposed on Yemen.

Polyanskiy said, "The decision for technical rollover of the respective restrictions for 12 months is in our view the best to preserve the necessary momentum to find a peaceful solution to the Yemeni crisis in the context of an unprecedented regional escalation."

Since China mediated the restoration of diplomatic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Riyadh engaged in several talks aimed at ending its aggression on Yemen and finding a political solution to the war.

However, the Sanaa-led government has revealed that the US and Saudi Arabia continued to place hurdles throughout talks, which belated peace in the country.

On October 3, Abdul Qader al-Murtada, the head of the National Committee for Prisoners' Affairs in the Sanaa government, stated that the "prisoner exchange deal signed in Switzerland is in a state of deadlock due to the lack of seriousness from the coalition of aggression," as quoted by the Yemeni Al-Masirah TV.

The official revealed that the Saudi-led coalition "has not been serious about the prisoner file so far," adding that this reflects "stubbornness and procrastination" on the part of more than one side involved in the negotiations. Riyadh's unproductive attitude in prisoner exchange deals has also been reflected in other contentious issues, such as the payment of frozen salaries to governmental employees and the lifting of the siege on Yemen.