United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on all sides “not to escalate” the volatile situation in the Red Sea, his spokesman has said after Washington and London launched strikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebels, AFP reports.

“The Secretary-General further calls on all parties involved not to escalate even more the situation in the interest of peace and stability in the Red Sea and the wider region,” said Guterres’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

Later, Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, told the UN Security Council “we are witnessing the cycle of violence that risks grave political security, economic and humanitarian repercussions in Yemen and the region.” “These developments in the Red Sea and the risk of exacerbating regional tensions are alarming,” he said.

Russia’s ambassador to the UN called the joint US-UK strikes on Yemen’s Houthis “blatant armed aggression against another country.”

“These states all carried out a mass strike on Yemeni territory. I’m not talking about an attack on some group within the country but an attack on the people of the country on the whole. Aircraft were used, warships and submarines,” Vasily Nebenzya said of the US and British action, supported by allied countries.