Russia considers Israel’s unilateral measures the main reason for the outbreak of violence in the occupied Palestinian territories, according to a speech delivered by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Lavrov’s speech was delivered during a UN Security Council meeting which focused on the situation in occupied Palestine on Tuesday.
“We cannot accept settlement expansion, house demolitions, (Palestinian) land confiscation, and mass arrests,” Lavrov said, adding “On the other hand, we do not turn a blind eye to the extremism of the discourse in the Palestinian street.”
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“Against the background of all this, we believe that all factors must be gathered around the two-state solution, which includes a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital,” Lavrov said, stressing that it will be possible to restore trust only through direct negotiations on all core issues.
Additionally, the Russian foreign minister expressed regret that the United States and the European Union did not contribute to the process, “but they continue to take unhelpful and unfair steps towards all parties.”
The Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations have stalled since April 2014, for several reasons, including Israel’s refusal to release old detainees, halt illegal settlement activity, and deny Palestinians an independent state of their own.
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For his part, the Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Riyad Al-Maliki, said in a speech during the meeting, “The process of displacing and replacing the Palestinians is still underway with one goal being pursued in broad daylight, which is annexation,” in reference to Israel’s efforts to annex the occupied Palestinian West Bank.
Al-Maliki stressed that the Nakba of the Palestinian people has been prolonged, and it is the longest period of denial of national, collective and individual rights in the world caused by the longest occupation in modern history.
Before the Security Council session, the Israeli delegate to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, demanded that it be postponed because of Israel’s celebration of “Memorial Day”.
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Russia, however, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council throughout the month of April, refused to respect the Israeli request, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
Russia’s refusal, according to the Israeli paper, resulted in Erdan storming out of the meeting.
(AA, AJ, PC)
