Int'l Community Welcomes Yemeni PM’s Return to Aden

Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalek heads a meeting in Aden. Saba Net
Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalek heads a meeting in Aden. Saba Net
TT

Int'l Community Welcomes Yemeni PM’s Return to Aden

Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalek heads a meeting in Aden. Saba Net
Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalek heads a meeting in Aden. Saba Net

The return of Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalek to the interim capital Aden following a visit to several governorates has been welcomed by the international community.

In a statement welcoming his return, US Charge d’Affaires Cathy Westley said Thursday that all parties should “work together toward restoring peace and stability, addressing the public’s needs, improving basic services, and promoting economic recovery.”

“We stand with the Yemeni people and support the government’s efforts to realize the hopes and aspirations of all Yemenis for a better future,” she added.

Abdulmalek had made short visits to Shabwa and Hadhramaut governorates.

The EU Delegation to Yemen also welcomed his return to Aden.

“We urge all parties to ensure safe and smooth functioning of the government. Only while in Yemen can the government address the needs of all Yemenis,” it said in a statement on Twitter.

“Parties must commit to the full implementation of the Riyadh Agreement and support the UN-led peace efforts,” it added.

The Heads of missions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the US also welcomed the return of the Prime Minister to the temporary capital.

"It is vital that the government is fully supported to bring security and stability, and deliver the essential services, including economic reforms, that the people of Yemen desperately need," they said in a joint statement.

"In the context of a deteriorating economic situation, the government must be allowed to resume its work from Aden," said the statement.

"We urge all parties to deliver on their commitments and work together constructively on behalf of the Yemeni people to implement the Riyadh Agreement," they added.



Putin Denies Russian Defeat in Syria, Says He Plans to Meet Assad

Russian President Vladimir Putin holds his annual end-of-year press conference in Moscow on December 19, 2024. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds his annual end-of-year press conference in Moscow on December 19, 2024. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP)
TT

Putin Denies Russian Defeat in Syria, Says He Plans to Meet Assad

Russian President Vladimir Putin holds his annual end-of-year press conference in Moscow on December 19, 2024. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds his annual end-of-year press conference in Moscow on December 19, 2024. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia had not been defeated in Syria and that Moscow had made proposals to the new rulers in Damascus to maintain Russia's military bases there.
In his first public comments on the subject, Putin said he had not yet met former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad since was overthrown and forced to flee to Moscow earlier this month, but that he planned to do so.
In response to a question on the subject from a US journalist, Putin said he would ask Assad about the fate of US reporter Austin Tice, who is missing in Syria, and was ready to ask Syria's new rulers about Tice's whereabouts too.
"I will tell you frankly, I have not yet seen President Assad since he came to Moscow. But I plan to do so. I will definitely talk to him," said Putin.
He said most people in Syria with whom Russia had been in contact about the future of its two main military bases in Syria were supportive of them staying, but that talks were ongoing, Reuters said.
Russia, which intervened in Syria in 2015 and turned the tide of the civil war there in Assad's favor, had also told other countries that they could use its airbase and naval base to bring in humanitarian aid for Syria, he said.
"You want to portray everything that is happening in Syria as some kind of failure, a defeat for Russia. I assure you, it is not. And I'll tell you why. We came to Syria 10 years ago to prevent a terrorist enclave from being created there," said Putin.
"On the whole, we have achieved our goal. It is not for nothing that today many European countries and the United States want to establish relations with them (Syria's new rulers). If they are terrorist organizations, why are you (the West) going there? So that means they have changed."