Moscow, Oct 10 (EFE).- Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that the escalating conflict between Israelis and Palestinians was a testament to the shortcomings of United States foreign policy in the Middle East.
He asserted that the worsening situation in the Middle East came even as the Ukrainian crisis continued.
“I think many people will agree with me that this is a clear example of the failure of US policy in the Middle East,” Putin told visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani.
The Russian president accused Washington of attempting to “monopolize” the quest for solutions to international conflicts and criticized the US for failing to prioritize compromises acceptable to both sides in the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Putin said the US often proposed solutions and exerted pressure on both parties to accept them without due regard for the core interests of the Palestinian people.
“I am referring, mainly, to the need to comply with the decisions of the UN Security Council on the creation of a sovereign and independent Palestinian state.”
Al-Sudani warned that the escalation of the conflict would lead to the destruction of Gaza, which is sustaining intensified aerial bombing by Israel.
He told Putin that it was “a very dangerous escalation” that killed civilians, with Israel bombing civilian infrastructure. “All that would lead to the destruction of the Gaza Strip.”
He said what was happening in the region was “a new Intifada by Palestinians, demanding an end to the violation of their rights.”
He said the events that unfolded in the Middle East over the weekend “are the natural result of Israel having continued to transgress the rights of the Palestinians amid a global silence.”
He said Arab and Islamic nations and major global powers had a “moral responsibility to end violations of Palestinian rights and the blockade of the Gaza Strip.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov said on Tuesday that Russia was willing to play a constructive role in seeking resolutions to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, stressing that Moscow participated in all earlier processes, which were ineffective.
He pointed out Russia’s “historical ties with the Palestinians” while maintaining relations with Israel.
The Russian ambassador to Israel, Anatoly Viktorov, confirmed in statements to Russian television the death of a second Russian citizen since the beginning of the outbreak of violence on Saturday.
He said four Russian citizens appear on the lists of missing persons prepared by the Israeli authorities. EFE
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