Russia and China clash with US and UK over attacks on Yemen rebels for strikes on Red Sea ships
UNITED NATIONS — Russia and China accused the United States and Britain on Wednesday of illegally attacking military sites used by Yemen’s Houthi rebels to launch missiles at commercial ships in the Red Sea, disrupting global shipping.
U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood and British Ambassador Barbara Woodward countered that the Houthi attacks are illegal and that their “proportionate and legal action” against the Yemeni rebels is being taken in self-defense.
Woodward said the Houthi attacks are “increasing the costs of global shipping, including the costs of food supplies and humanitarian aid in the region.”
But Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky and China’s U.N. envoy Zhang Jun argued that the U.N. Security Council never authorized military action against Yemen.
The clashes took place during a council meeting where Hans Grundberg, UN special envoy to Yemen, said promising efforts to restore peace in Yemen have been delayed by rising regional tensions related to the war in Gaza and “in particular the military escalation in the Red Sea.”
Since November, the Houthi rebels have attacked ships in the Red Sea to demand a ceasefire in the Israeli offensive in Gaza. They have regularly attacked ships with weak or no apparent ties to Israel, endangering shipping on a key trade route between Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
In recent weeks, the United States and Britain, backed by other allies, have launched airstrikes on Houthi missile arsenals and launch sites for their attacks.
Wood, the U.S. envoy, said U.S. strikes in response to attacks on U.S. Navy ships “aim to further undermine the Houthis’ ability to continue their reckless attacks on ships and commercial shipping in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb Strait , disrupt and deteriorate. and the Gulf of Aden.”
Since 2014, he said, Iran has provided the Houthis with “a growing arsenal of advanced weapons” that they have used to attack commercial ships, and “Iran cannot continue its role in enabling and supporting the Houthis’ attacks don’t deny it.’
Wood accused the Houthis of “trying to choke global shipping through the Red Sea” and urged all countries, especially those with direct channels to Iran, “to put pressure on Iranian leaders to rein in the Houthis and stop these lawless attacks.”
Russia’s Polyanski stressed that Moscow “categorically condemns attacks and seizures of commercial ships and (…) all attacks that hinder freedom of navigation.” He said Russia has conveyed messages to Houthi leaders to focus on Yemen’s domestic agenda and pursue peace.
Grundberg, the U.N. envoy, said that in late December the Houthis, who control the capital and much of the country’s north, and Yemen’s internationally recognized government “committed to a nationwide ceasefire, measures to improve living conditions and restart an intra-religious ceasefire. Yemeni Political Process.”
But he said Yemen’s peace process cannot be isolated from events in the region, and that US and British attacks on Houthi targets, and the US designation of the Houthis as a “Specially Designated Terrorist Group” are “concerning” .
“Despite possible complications, my work will continue regardless,” he said. “It is therefore imperative that we protect the political space, that channels of communication are kept open and that all actors remain actively involved in my efforts.”
Russia’s Polyansky said the root cause of the current situation is the Israeli military offensive in Gaza following Hamas’ surprise attack in southern Israel on October 7, which has provoked a chain reaction in the Middle East, including among the Houthis.
“An immediate ceasefire in Gaza will help stabilize the situation in the Red Sea, and the de-escalation in those waters will in turn unblock the efforts of the Special Envoy, Mr. Grundberg,” Polyansky said.
Yemen’s civil war began in 2014 when the Houthis abandoned their northern stronghold and ousted the internationally recognized government from Sanaa. A Saudi-led coalition intervened on the government’s behalf the following year, and over time the conflict turned into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The war has devastated Yemen, already the poorest country in the Arab region, and caused one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.
Edem Wosornu, director of operations at the UN humanitarian agency, told the council that Yemen faces “huge ongoing needs.”
This year, she said, more than 18 million people – more than half the country’s population – will need humanitarian assistance.
The UN expects 17.6 million people will be “severely food insecure” and face severe hunger, she said. “Nearly half of all children under the age of five face moderate to severe barriers” to their growth and development.
Last year, the UN received only 40% of the $4.3 billion humanitarian appeal, she said. This year, the Yemen appeal is more targeted, asking for $2.7 billion to reach 11.2 million people across Yemen.
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