News

Tuesday 25 May 2021

The Meeting of the Yemen's Foreign Minister with the Institute's Researchers

 
On Tuesday, May the 25th, the Institute of Oriental Studies held a meeting with Ahmad Awad Bin Mubarak, Foreign Minister of Yemen. The event was also attended by the Minister's delegation and Ahmad Al-Wahishi, Yemen's Ambassador in Russia.  

The meeting's agenda included such topics as the current situation in Yemen, issues of bilateral cooperation with Russia, and prospects of academic relations with the Institute. 

Ahmad Awad Bin Mubarak, Foreign Minister of Yemen,  pointed out in his speech that his first foreign trip to Moscow was an evidence of uniquely close ties between Russia and Yemen (including both the North and the South of the country). He mentioned that his colleagues had advised visiting the Institute as a main and most renowned center of the Yemeni studies.

Mr. Minister expressed his high expectations for cooperation between the countries and told about the current issues of the Yemen crisis and reconciliation processes in relation to the initiatives brought out by the J. Biden, US President , M. Griffiths, UN Special Envoy in Yemen,  T. Lenderking, US Special Envoy,  and the government of Saudi Arabia. 

He mentioned that a united technocratic government had been formed back in December 2020. However its position in Aden has remained unstable due to the problems of unification between the armed structures belonging to Mansour Hadi , the legitimate President of Yemen and the Southern Transitional Council that controls Aden currently. 

According to the Minister, the government's first and most crucial goal is to stop the war, that is destroying all aspects of life in the country day by day – the economy, humanitarian situation, and even the basics of the Yemeni society. 

In the Minister's opinion, the crisis' central cause is the controversies inside Yemen, not the geopolitical rivalry between the regional powers.  The rivalry is a secondary factor ultimately, even though the Yemeni actors are influenced significantly by the foreign powers (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran). 

Then the high guest touched upon the problem of the South and expressed his hope that the region would hold a national dialogue forum at last to unite its political platform that had not been created yet. 

Answering the question about the government's national action plan under these conditions, the Minister said that federalization and implementation of final documents of both the 2013 National Dialogue and the results of 2016 negotiations in Kuwait might be still relevant, even though the situation had dramatically changed over the six years of war. 

A significant part of the Minister's speech was dedicated to the critical review of the Houthi politics and the analysis of the prospects of the "second track" negotiations centered on the Yemeni crisis, that included Iran among other participants. 

Lastly, the participants expressed their hope that the Yemeni-Russian cooperation would grow closer, and the academic exchange between the countries would develop.