Russia rejects US-UK strikes on Yemen during UNSC meeting

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) held Saturday an emergency session in New York, called for urgently by Russia, to discuss the widening crisis in the Middle East and the recent US-British aggression on Yemen.

Russia's representative to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia called the joint US-UK strikes on Yemen "blatant armed aggression against another country," Almayadeen reported.

Commenting on the airstrikes, Nebenzia considered that protecting commercial ships is one matter, and bombing other countries is a different and illegal matter.

Nebenzia mentioned that the so-called international coalition of several countries launched air and naval attacks, including Tomahawk missiles against Yemeni cities, including Taiz, Sanaa, and Saada.

"These [coalition] states all carried out a mass strike on Yemeni territory. I'm not talking about an attack on some group within the country but an attack on the people of the country on the whole. Aircraft were used, warships and submarines," he said.

The Russian diplomat said the same destruction has been unfolding in Gaza and warned that the war is expanding in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, adding that the coalition threatens to expand the confrontation further without regard for international law.

According to Nebenzia, the massive strikes by the US and UK have "nothing in common" with the right to "self-defense".

"The actions of the coalition violate Article II of the UN Charter," Nebenzia stressed. "The freedom of navigation is governed by the Law of the Sea."

Nebenzia said that Russia warned against such a scenario, recalling that the UNSC's attempts to call for a ceasefire in Gaza have been obstructed by the United States.

He added that the US and its allies have a record of gross violations, adding that Washington is also covering up its actions in Syria with "a fig leaf."

Touching on the situation in the Gaza Strip, Nebenzia said the Middle East is now facing a critical situation, warning that "if the escalation continues, the region could encounter a catastrophe," for which the US bears its responsibility.

Elsewhere, the Russian diplomat called on the international community to condemn the attacks on Yemen and for further international efforts to end the violence in the Middle East.

AMK/PR