The conflict in the Middle East can only be resolved by stopping the violence and creating the conditions for establishment an independent Palestinian state, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on Friday. “There will be no winners” in the ongoing war, he added.
In an interview with the Turkish daily Hurriyet, Lavrov said we are seeing a deepening spiral of violence in the Middle East and that an increasing number of countries are being drawn into the “whirlpool of confrontation.”
Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah have exchanged fire over the past year as the latter has supported the Palestinian cause in light of West Jerusalem’s military operation against Hamas. Israel has escalated its campaign against the Shiite militant group, launching attacks on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.
Tensions between Tehran and West Jerusalem have also escalated since Israel conducted a series of strikes against targets in Iran last week. The attack was in response to a barrage of missiles fired by Iran at the Jewish state in October – which itself was in retaliation for the killing of Hezbollah and Iranian commanders.
The Russian minister has urged the sides to stop further escalation before the situation gets out of hand. Tens of thousands of “innocent Palestinians” have been killed in Gaza since the outbreak of the conflict with Israel, while in Lebanon the number of victims is in the thousands, he said.
Lavrov noted that Russia has condemned the assassination of Hamas and Hezbollah political leaders, warning that it could worsen the already tense situation in the region and undermine attempts to end the war in Gaza.
The top diplomat noted that Moscow had earlier proposed that the UN Security Council give an assessment of the killings, however, “due to resistance from Western members of the Security Council, this was not possible.”
Moscow calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and is undertaking diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the situation, according to Lavrov. However, long-lasting peace in the region can only be established “though the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the borders of 1967,” the minister stressed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas earlier this year that the roots of the Gaza conflict are that UN resolutions regarding the creation of an independent Palestinian state have been ignored.
Currently the state of Palestine is recognized by 146 UN members and half of the G20, including China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, and Türkiye.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed not to allow the creation of a fully functional Palestinian state.