US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. File photoWASHINGTON, Apr 14US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken apologized to the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi for the lack of US response to the attacks of the Houthis in order to enlist the support of the Middle East on Ukraine, Axios reports, citing sources. Previously, the media, citing informed sources, reported that the Gulf countries believe that the United States should have responded more forcefully to the ongoing missile attacks on their countries by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Against the backdrop of the situation in Ukraine, Washington, in turn, according to sources, considers the “condemnation of Moscow” by the Middle Eastern monarchies to be insufficiently articulated. «Admitted that the United States did not react to the attack of the Houthis for too long (in January, Yemeni rebels attacked Abu Dhabi, six people were killed — ed.), and asked for forgiveness for this.» The publication notes that in this way Washington hopes to enlist the support of the countries of the region in situation with Ukraine. A representative of the US State Department in a comment to the publication declined to disclose details, but did not refute the publication.Psaki said that Biden's words on Ukraine are his personal opinion. In early March, the UAE abstained from voting on the US and Albanian resolution on the situation in Ukraine, as did China and India. Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and, on March 25, completed the main tasks of the first stage — significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
