Russia will reopen its embassy in Aden, Yemen’s interim capital, in early 2025. Coming nearly a decade after it closed, the news has boosted hopes for the reintroduction of foreign diplomatic missions in the southern city.

During a meeting in Riyadh on Tuesday, Charge d’Affaires of the Russian Embassy in Yemen Evgeny Kudrov and Yemen’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Shaya Al-Zindani said the embassy would reopen “at the beginning” of next year.

Kudrov also expressed his government’s support for the internationally recognized government of Yemen.

An official at the Yemen Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who asked to remain anonymous, said Russia had taken “serious” steps toward reopening the embassy. He added that India and some Gulf Cooperation Council states might follow suit by opening embassies in Aden.

Foreign diplomatic missions in Sanaa, Yemen’s official capital, were closed when the Houthis took power in the country a decade ago.

The city of Aden has experienced relative calm in recent years following the formation of the Presidential Leadership Council, which brought together rival Yemeni factions.

Shortly after being liberated from the Houthis in mid-2015 it experienced anarchy, with explosions, assassinations and bloody clashes. However, the Yemeni government says it is now safe and that security and military forces are willing to protect foreign diplomatic missions that relocate there. 

Russia’s announcement came a day after the Kremlin denied a Wall Street Journal report claiming that arms dealer Viktor Bout, released from the US during a prisoner swap in 2022, is negotiating a deal with the Yemen Houthi militia to provide them with small arms, including Kalashnikov assault rifles.

Last month, US Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking expressed concern over news reports that Russia was in talks with the Houthis about supplying them with advanced anti-ship missiles.

Meanwhile, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Monday sanctioned Hamed Abdullah Hussein Al-Ahmer, a Yemeni MP and banking, oil, and telecom tycoon, as well as several other individuals and businesses, for their support of Hamas.

According to OFAC, Al-Ahmer, who is based in Turkey, is a major Hamas supporter and an agent for the group’s investments, which have which generated over half a billion US dollars.

Al-Ahmer is president of the Istanbul-based League of Parliamentarians for Al-Quds, which was founded in 2015 and operates banking, oil, media and telecom businesses in Yemen, Turkey and elsewhere.

“He is a key member of Hamas’ once-secret investment portfolio, which at its peak managed over $500 million worth of assets enabling Hamas’s leaders to live in luxury outside the Palestinian territories despite the real humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza,” the OFAC said.

Al-Ahmer has not officially responded to the US sanctions but on Monday, the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks, he appeared on video expressing his support for the “resistance” of people in Palestine and Lebanon.

“We applaud the Palestinian and Gazan people’s resilience in the face of an attack by the Zionist destruction machine, which is supported by America and Europe,” he said.