KAZAN: Russian President Vladimir Putin told a BRICS summit on Thursday that the Middle East was on the verge of full-scale war.
“The military action that started a year ago in Gaza has now spread to Lebanon. Other countries in the region are also affected,” Putin told a meeting in Kazan attended by several world leaders.
“The level of confrontation between Israel and Iran has sharply risen. This is all reminiscent of a chain reaction and puts the whole Middle East on the verge of full-scale war,” Putin said.
Violence in the Middle East will not end until the creation of an independent Palestinian state, Putin said at the summit, attended by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.
“The key demand for restoring peace and stability on Palestinian territories is carrying out the two-state formula approved by the UN Security Council and General Assembly,” the Russian president said.
He added that this would be “correcting the historical injustice toward the Palestinian people.”
“Until this question is resolved, it will not be possible to break the vicious circle of violence.”
Putin says Middle East ‘on brink of full-scale war’
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Putin says Middle East ‘on brink of full-scale war’
Trump asks Netanyahu to change West Bank policy
- US President, his team raise settler violence, financial instability of PA, Israeli settlements’ expansion
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and his top advisers asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to change Israel’s policies in the occupied West Bank during their meeting according to a US official and another source, both with direct knowledge, Axios said.
Home to 2.7 million Palestinians, the West Bank has long been at the heart of plans for a future Palestinian state alongside Israel.
According to the US official, the White House thinks a violent escalation in the West Bank would undermine efforts to implement the Gaza peace agreement and prevent the expansion of the Abraham Accords before the end of Trump’s term.
Trump and his team expressed concern about the situation in the West Bank and asked Netanyahu to avoid provocative steps and “calm things down,” the sources said.
The president and his team raised settler violence against Palestinian civilians, the financial instability of the Palestinian Authority, and Israeli settlements expansion, the sources said.
The US message was that changing course in the West Bank is critical to repair Israel’s relations with European countries and, hopefully, expand the Abraham Accords. “Netanyahu spoke very strongly against settler violence and said he is going to take more action,” the source with knowledge said.
