Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned of the consequences of prolonged escalation in the Gaza war, cautioning that the US may want to widen the conflict beyond the regional borders.
Lavrov stressed in a press interview published Wednesday that Iran and Lebanon do not want to get involved in the current conflict, but he warned of the danger of Tel Aviv treating this restraint "as weakness, and as a green light to do anything in Gaza, this would be a huge mistake."
Lavrov strongly criticized the United States, saying, "Washington doesn't want to tie Israel's hands," reiterating his belief that it may want to extend the Gaza crisis outside the scope of the Middle East region.
Regarding the United States war policy, Lavrov saw that the US administration was unprepared for anything other than a humanitarian truce without commitments.
He recalled that Washington rejected a resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire and was only ready to say "a humanitarian pause" without any promise to continue these efforts.
Russia presented two resolutions calling for a ceasefire in the conflict in the Gaza Strip, but Washington still considers "anything coming from Russia is taken as a hostile act, hostile initiative."
Lavrov asserted that the creation of the Palestinian state is "unavoidable," explaining that "in historical terms, in sustainable settlement terms, the second aspect of this problem, which is much more important, the creation of the Palestinian state is unavoidable."
Most of the discussions related to the future of the Gaza Strip do not currently address the establishment of a Palestinian state adjacent to Israel, said Lavrov, recalling that President Vladimir Putin had previously stressed the necessity of returning to a political path based on the establishment of a Palestinian state within the framework of the two-state solution.
