China recently opened an “anti-piracy” base in Djibouti, also to the dismay of the US.
According to the website www.criticalthreats.org a Russian military base in Yemen would allow president Putin to “project power into one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes in the Red Sea and the Bab al Mandab strait, a global maritime chokepoint”.
Russia has been increasing its engagement in Yemen as part of a regional re-organisation in the Middle East. As a mediator in the Yemeni conflict, Putin is seeking to secure naval basing on the Yemeni coast as part of a brokered political settlement.
The mediating negotiations for a political solution to the Yemen has been undertaken by Russia outside of UN channels “as a means to secure naval bases in Yemen”, and unlike the US, Russian is seen as neutral and dependable by all sides in the conflict.
Negotiations with the UAE and former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh are already underway, in order to build consensus within the Yemeni government.
Saleh’s support for the al Houthi Movement is critical for the al Houthi-Saleh bloc to retain its influence across northern and central Yemen, the website argues. The president has previously expressed willingness to grant Russia military basing rights in Yemen.
“The UAE may see this settlement as a way to halt the expansion of Iran’s influence in Yemen and to limit bearing further costs associated with the Yemeni war,” it concludes.
In August 2016, Reuters reported that the new governing council in Yemen would work with Russia to fight terrorism by allowing Moscow use of the war-torn country’s military bases.
Officials from the party Saleh heads, run the political council that controls much of the country along with the Houthi movement allied to Iran.
Iran already lets Russian jets take off from its territory to bomb armed groups in Syria.
Russia is the only major country that maintains a diplomatic presence in Yemen in the 16-month war between a Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis. Putin has been negotiating with the UAE, the Houthi/Saleh alliance and the various southern groups in Yemen over a peace deal for over six months now, insider sources say.
If the US insists on controlling eastern Syria, their position the region overall would be considerably weakened by a Russian military presence in Aden. In that case, the US hold on Syria might not be worth the trouble.
