Russia Halts Arms Deliveries To Houthis After US, Saudi Pressure
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
MOSCOW/WASHINGTON/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Russia has canceled plans at the last minute to deliver missiles and other military equipment to Yemen-based Houthi fighters after pressure from the United States and Saudi Arabia, several sources say.
According to officials familiar with the negotiations, the delivery was scheduled for late last month, but Washington and Riyadh urged Moscow to stop it.
U.S. sources said at least three Russian military officials traveled to Yemen in late July 2024 to advise the Houthis and possibly assist them with live fire exercises, which the Houthis later canceled.
Russia reportedly viewed arming and advising the Houthis as a retaliatory measure for lifting some U.S. restrictions on wartorn Ukraine’s use of U.S-provided weapons for strikes within Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed on June 6 that Russia would provide long-range strike capabilities to unspecified actors for strikes against the West as a “symmetrical response” to the lifting of some of these restrictions.
“Russia’s reported plans to support the Houthis to indirectly confront the West and threaten further escalation cohere with several Russian information and hybrid operations that aim to encourage the West to self-deter from supporting Ukraine over fears of confrontation with Russia,” said the influential Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in an assessment seen by Worthy News on Sunday.
However, the Saudis, who were involved in a war with the Houthis for years before the U.S. helped to negotiate a fragile truce in 2022, warned Russia against arming one of their biggest adversaries upon learning of the plans, well-informed sources said.
DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS
The U.S., which has been involved in several diplomatic efforts to stop the Russians from arming the Iran-backed rebels, separately asked the Saudis to help convince Moscow not to pursue the effort, the Cable News Network (CNN) quoted two of the sources as saying.
The Saudi Embassy in Washington and the Kremlin declined to comment.
U.S. officials reportedly said they are unsure if Saudi protests were the determining factor for ending the planned transfer. Yet they said at least three Russian military officials traveled to Yemen in late July 2024 to advise the Houthis and possibly assist the Houthis with live fire exercises, which the Houthis later canceled, apparently after pressure.
Yet Russian President Vladimir “Putin’s willingness to consider supporting the Houthis as they attack Israel and international shipping is part of deepening Russian-Iranian military cooperation,” the ISW added.
It also showed “Russia’s increasing reliance on Iran for high-precision weapons and components. Russia’s deepening partnership with Iran will likely encourage Russia to consider supporting other Iranian proxies and leveraging these groups in other indirect attempts to threaten the West with escalation,” the ISW
warned.
Yet critics say increased Russian willingness to use Iran and its proxies to confront the West indirectly “will disrupt” Moscow’s attempts to portray its foreign policy in the Middle East as balanced.
That “may further complicate Russian relations with countries concerned about Russian-Iranian cooperation,” including Israel, suggested the ISW.