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Yemen |
Russia–Yemen relations (Russian: Российско-йеменские отношения) is the bilateral relationship between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Yemen.
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Soviet diplomats made their first contacts with representatives of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen in Ankara, Turkey in 1926. In 1927 the Emir of Hodeida Saif-al-Islam Muhammad passed to the Soviet consul general in Jeddah, Karim Khakimov, a letter from the Yemeni Imam Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din which proposed to the Soviets that the two countries should establish trade relations.[1] As early as November 1927, Soviet petrol was being sold in Yemen, at a lower price than that of the Italians, and the Soviets were purchasing Yemeni coffee at a higher price than any other nation.[2] Whilst negotiations for a trade treaty commenced in Sana'a in June 1928, the Soviets had set themselves up in Hodeida in order to receive goods which were arriving on Soviet ships.[2][1] On 12 July 1928 the first Soviet-Yemeni treaty was signed.[1]
In June 1928 Georgiy Astakhov and Qadi Muhammad Raghib had drawn up the terms of a Treaty of Friendship and Commerce in Sana'a, after which Astakhov returned to Moscow to report to Georgy Chicherin. Karakhov, Chicherin's deputy, proposed a number of amendments to the draft, which lead to Astakhov to return to Sana'a to continue negotiations with the Yemenis.[3][4] The Treaty was concluded on 1 November 1928, for a period of ten years, and saw the two states establishing "normal official relations".[1] The Soviet Government ratified the treat on 23 January 1929, however it wasn't until 30 April 1929 that Mikhail Kalinin, the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, advised Imam Yahya that the Soviets had ratified the treaty.[4][2] Imam Yahya ratified the treaty on 24 June 1929, and the treaty went into force on 24 July 1929 after the deeds of ratification were exchanged in Sana'a.[5][2] The ratification saw Yemen becoming the first Arab country to recognise the Soviet Union.[6]
On 7 February 1929 a Soviet steamer arrived in Hodeida carrying 25,000 cases of kerosene and foodstuffs. Upon the steamers arrival, Emir Muhammad received the ship's officers and visited the vessel. In May 1929, the Emir forbid Yemeni pilgrims travelling to Jeddah from boarding British and Italian ships, and instead required them to travel on a Soviet ship.[7] The increasing respect that the Yemenis had given to the Soviets began to worry the British and Italians, and led the British to change their policy towards Imam Yahya, whose forces were pushing deeper inside the Aden Protectorate. It was the opinion of Count Rogeri, the Italian ambassador in London, that the Soviet-Yemeni Treaty would make it difficult for the Italians to exert influence over Yahya to restrain himself in dealings with Ibn Saud and the British, as required under the Anglo-Italian Agreement of 1926. Despite misgivings by the British, a month later they informed the Italians that military actions against Yahya had been ceased.[7][8]
Britain remained concerned at the Soviets gaining a foothold in Yemen, in particular in trade issues. In 1930 Yemen imported from the Soviet Union 50 per cent of its kerosene, 60 per cent of its soap, 35 per cent of its sugar and 80 per cent of its timber. In 1931, Soviet exports to Yemen totalled some 3,834,000 rubles. However, after 1931 Soviet exports to Yemen decreased, and in 1936 were worth less than 100,000 rubles. Likewise Soviet imports from Yemen totalled some 875,000 rubles in 1931, and were non-existent the following year.[8] Trade relations between the Soviets and Yemenis began their decline in 1932 mainly because of disagreements with Amir Muhammad over the nature of Soviet trade. The manager of the Russian Trading Company informed the Imam that the Soviets were considering increasing their trade in the Red Sea area, and suggested that Hodeidah may become the central focus of these operations, however, the Imam was unimpressed.[9][10]
By the mid-1930s, the attention of the Soviets was redirected away from Arabia to Adolf Hitler's Germany and Benito Mussolini's Italy, and all Soviet officials, with the exception of Dr Yaskolko, left Yemen.[10] Imam Yahya contacted the Soviet authorities on 4 December 1938 with a proposal to extend the 1928 Treaty of Friendship and Commerce for a further ten years; the proposal of which was accepted by the Soviets on 28 January 1939, extended the treaty to 24 June 1949.[1][11] The Soviets announced the closure of its diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia and Yemen in May 1939, citing the conclusion of the Anglo-Italian Agreement of 1939, however, the real reason for the closure was obscure.[11] Madame Fattakhov, the wife of the Soviet consul-general in Jeddah travelled to Yemen and announced that the closure of the missions was due to fears of a world war, although Soviet-Yemeni friendship would continue. According to one writer, those members of the diplomatic mission in Yemen who returned to Moscow were executed on account of their failure in the success of the Soviet missions to Arabia.[11] Until the 1950s there was little communication with between the Soviet government and those governments on the Arabian Peninsula.[12]
On 31 October 1955 in Cairo, the Soviet Ambassador to Egypt Daniel Solod and acting Yemeni Foreign Minister Samad Abu Taleb signed a Treaty of Friendship. The treaty, which renewed the 1928 Treaty of Friendship and Commerce, included a provision establishing diplomatic relations between the two states.[13][5] Abdurrahman Abu Talib was appointed as the first Yemeni Ambassador to the Soviet Union, with non-resident status, whilst Yevgeny Kiselyov, resident in Cairo, was appointed as the first Soviet Ambassador to Yemen on 4 August 1956.[6][14] On 8 March 1956 a Trade Agreement between the two countries was signed in Cairo, and it was reported that Soviet arms sales to Yemen were also agreed to,[13] with the first shipment of arms arriving in Yemen in November of that year.[6] The exchange of instruments of ratification for the establishment of diplomatic relations occurred in Cairo on 30 March 1956, and on 23 April 1956, the two states agreed to the opening of diplomatic missions in each country.[1]
From 11-25 June 1956 Crown Prince Muhammad al-Badr visited the Soviet Union, and agreements were signed to expand trade relations between the two states, and provisions were made for Soviet aid for Yemeni economic development.[13] From 1956 the Soviet mission was located in Cairo, and in 1958 it was relocated to Taiz.[1] The Soviet embassy was relocated to Sana'a on 24 June 1962.[6]
On 26 September 1962, Muhammad al-Badr was overthrown in a coup led by Abdullah as-Sallal, who installed himself as President of the Yemen Arab Republic.[15] The Soviet Union became the second country, after the United Arab Republic, to recognise the Republic, when on 1 October Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, send a telegram to Abdullah as-Sallal extending recognition.[5] In November 1962 the Soviet mission in Sana'a and the Yemeni mission in Moscow were raised to embassy level,[5] and Colonel Ali Saif al-Khawlani was appointed as the first ambassador of the revolutionary government to the Soviet Union.[6]
On 30 November 1967 the Federation of South Arabia gained independence as the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. The Soviet Union recognised the independence of the new republic on 3 December 1967.[6]
Yemen recognised the Russian Federation as the successor state to the Soviet Union on 30 December 1991, after the latter's dissolution.[1] President Ali Abdullah Saleh had paid two states visits to Russia within a relatively short period: He had been to Russia in December 2002 and April 2004.
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