United Nations, United States--The UN Security Council was unable on Friday to agree on a Russian-drafted statement demanding an immediate ceasefire or at least humanitarian pauses in the fighting in Yemen.
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin criticized the 15-member council, saying fellow envoys showed "amazing indecision" in the face of the worsening humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
"If you cannot agree to a motherhood-and-apple-pie statement, what can you agree on? I don't understand," Churkin told reporters following the behind-closed-door meeting.
Russia had requested the urgent meeting after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that fuel shortages were threatening to bring all relief operations to a halt "within days."
A Saudi-led air campaign launched a month ago in Yemen has crippled deliveries of fuel, food and medicine while all airports are closed to civilian traffic and naval shipments are delayed.
Diplomats said the Russian statement appealing for action was not rejected out of hand but that the delegations needed time to consider the wording.
"There was a strong degree of council agreement on the desperate humanitarian situation in Yemen and need to return to political talks, but no agreement in the room on the exact working of the statement," said a diplomat.
Russia's diplomacy has been greeted with some suspicion given the country's close ties to Iran, which is supporting the Huthi rebels who have seized the capital Sanaa and forced Yemen's president into exile.
A US diplomat said Washington supports humanitarian pauses and was urging Saudi Arabia to take measures to ensure aid deliveries reach civilians trapped in the fighting.
"But let's be clear - it is the ongoing, unilateral actions of Huthis and forces loyal to former president (Ali Abdullah) Saleh that are responsible for the humanitarian crisis," he added.
AFP
