US envoy: Russia seeks to arm Houthis, their close relationship has become 'deeply troubling'

The US envoy to Yemen, Tim Lenderking, revealed strong Russian efforts to arm the terrorist Houthi militia, noting that the development of the relationship between the two sides has become "very worrying."

The National newspaper quoted the US envoy, in a statement on the sidelines of an event organized by the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington on Wednesday, as saying that he had seen "very disturbing" evidence that Russia was seeking to arm the Houthis.

"The relationship between the Houthis and Russia has become stronger and has become 'very worrying,'" Lenderking added.

“The Russians are very upset with our tough policy toward Ukraine. They are looking for other outlets to take out their anger on us. Yemen is another place where they are seeking to arm the Houthis, which would be a game changer,” he continued.

For his part, the Yemeni ambassador to Washington said at the event - according to the newspaper - that Russia confirmed to the Yemeni foreign minister during his recent visit to Moscow that it does not supply the Houthis with weapons.

"If we see evidence that this is not the case, I think our position will change," the ambassador continued.

Yesterday evening, Vice President of the Presidential Leadership Council, Tariq Saleh, arrived in Russia on a working visit, and President Al-Alimi is expected to visit the Kremlin later this month.

Early this September, special sources confirmed to "Yemeni Youth Net" that a leader in the Iranian-backed Houthi militia has been visiting Russia for two weeks, commissioned by the militia leadership to purchase special equipment for the group.

The sources said that the Houthi leader Ali Al-Hadi, who was appointed by the Houthi militia as head of the Chamber of Commerce in the capital, went to Russia under commercial pretexts to buy wheat for his struggling company, Al-Mohsen Wheat, but he had special goals in mind to buy equipment for the militia.

Several reports had spoken of a Russian move to arm the Houthi militia, which Saudi Arabia had previously stopped, but the Ukrainian attack on the Russian Kursk increased the chances of the Russians providing weapons to the Houthis to launch more naval attacks.

In early August, the American CNN network revealed that Russia had backed down from sending a shipment of missiles and military equipment to the Iranian-backed Houthi militias in Yemen.

According to the American network, "Russia was preparing to deliver missiles and other military equipment to the Houthi rebels in Yemen late last month, but backed out at the last minute amid a wave of behind-the-scenes efforts by the United States and Saudi Arabia to stop it."

The network also quoted informed sources as saying that Russia had deployed military personnel to Yemen to help advise the Houthis over three days in late July.

The sources explained that American officials monitored the unusual stop of large Russian ships in the southern Red Sea, where the Russian personnel disembarked, and then the Houthis picked them up in a boat and transported them to Yemen.

The Russians were carrying bags with them, the sources said, but nothing appeared large enough to hold weapons or weapons components.

She reported that "before and during the Russians' visit to Yemen, the Houthis took the unusual step of issuing a notice to mariners, alerting ships to potential dangers at sea."

US officials told the network that the Russians viewed arming and advising the Houthis as a way to respond to the Biden administration for its decision to allow Ukraine to launch an attack inside Russian territory using weapons provided by the United States.

Since last November, the Iran-backed Houthi militia has been launching drone and missile attacks on cargo ships sailing in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab and the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Yemen, claiming that this is in support of Gaza, which has been subjected to a devastating Israeli war since October 7. These attacks have negatively affected shipping, trade and global supply chains.

As a result, the United States formed a military coalition led by it, and since the beginning of this year, it has been carrying out strikes alongside Britain that it says target the Houthis’ military capabilities, in response to their attacks on cargo ships, which the Houthis responded to with attacks on American and British naval ships, considering them “military targets.”