SANAA
Russia's ambassador in Yemen Vladimir Dedushkin on Sunday met with President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and expressed support for the Yemeni president's legitimacy, a source has said.
He added that the Russian envoy met with the Yemeni President in the southern Yemeni city of Aden and conveyed to him the support of Russian President Vladimir Putin to his legitimacy as president.
"To resolve Yemen's crisis, Yemenis have to engage in dialogue and move ahead with their country's political process," Dedushkin was quoted by the source as saying.
He said the Russian diplomat noted that dialogue would be the only way for Yemenis to avoid the damage conflicts could wreak on their country.
The source, who attended the meeting, but spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Anadolu Agency that Hadi, for his part, updated the Russian diplomat about latest development's on Yemen's political stage.
Hadi met several diplomats in Aden over the past few days, including the U.S. and British ambassadors in his country.
Diplomatic sources told AA earlier that the U.S. and British embassies in Yemen were set to resume their work from Aden – where Hadi has been based since fleeing house arrest that was imposed on him by his country's Shiite Houthi group in capital Sanaa.
Several Gulf States have moved their diplomatic missions from Sanaa to Aden after the Shiite militant group had taken over the capital in September of 2014.
Hadi – who enjoys wide support from Gulf states and the international community – has been working on reinstating his government with the backing of loyal army units since his arrival in Aden in late February.
On Saturday, he declared the southern city Yemen's temporary capital after designating Sanaa as an "occupied capital."
After placing Hadi under house arrest in January, the Houthis issued what they described as a "constitutional declaration," dissolving parliament and establishing a 551-member transitional council.
The declaration was, however, rejected by most of Yemen's political forces – along with neighboring Gulf countries – which described it as a coup against constitutional legitimacy.
