Violence in Israel
Putin: US policy in the Middle East has failed
Russia continues its contacts with the Palestinians in the Middle East. photo
© Mikhail Metzel/Pool Sputnik Kremlin/AP/dpa
Despite Hamas’ terror in Israel, Moscow wants to continue to maintain good relations with Palestinians. Kremlin leader Putin, who himself is waging a destructive war, is now commenting on the situation in the Middle East for the first time.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his first public reaction to the attacks by the militant Hamas against Israel accused the US of failing in the Middle East. “This is a strong example of the failure of the United States’ policy in the Middle East, which has tried to monopolize regulation there,” Putin said in Moscow at the start of a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani.
The USA did not bother to find compromises that were acceptable to both sides. Rather, they pushed forward their own ideas for a solution to the conflict and put pressure on the sides. Washington did not take the core interests of the Palestinian people into account or support the implementation of the UN resolution to create a sovereign, independent Palestinian state.
Putin, who is waging a destructive war against Ukraine, called on the parties to the conflict in the Middle East to show consideration for the civilian population. The Kremlin chief, who is accused of war crimes, said the number of civilian casualties must be reduced to zero if possible.
Al-Sudani: “The international community was silent”
At the meeting, al-Sudani said, according to a Russian translation, that the escalation in the Middle East would lead to the obliteration of the Gaza Strip. Israel has announced that it will destroy the radical Islamic group Hamas in Gaza.
“There is now a difficult and dangerous development of events in Palestine,” al-Sudani said. “This is the natural result of Israel repeatedly violating the rights of Palestinians. The international community has remained silent, unable to fulfill its obligations under internationally recognized resolutions.”
The Russian leadership maintains contacts with both sides of the conflict and had offered support in resolving the conflict. In the evening, the Kremlin also reported on a phone call between Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in which both spoke out in favor of an early ceasefire in the Middle East.
Abbas expected in Moscow
Russia is also expecting the President of the West Bank Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, to visit Moscow. The visit had been planned for some time and the exact date now had to be set through diplomatic channels, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. The Palestinian ambassador to Moscow had previously informed Russian media about the visit.
“Of course we will continue contact with the Palestinians,” Peskov said. The connections are historical and established on many levels. The Kremlin spokesman emphasized that there are also contacts with Israel and that Russia is ready to help resolve the conflict. A large number of Russians live in Israel, which is why there are connections to the state. However, the previous day the Palestinian ambassador categorically ruled out bilateral talks between representatives of Israel and the Abbas government at the meeting in Moscow.
Palestinian President Abbas leads the Fatah faction within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Most recently, he described Israel’s government as “racist” at the UN general debate in September. In the Gaza Strip, Fatah’s influence under Abbas has been considered low since the radical Islamic Hamas drove it out of the region in bloody power struggles in 2007.
Links to Hamas
According to the Foreign Ministry in Moscow, Russia also has contacts with Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the USA, the EU and Israel. For example, the Kremlin’s Middle East representative, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, held talks with Hamas representatives several times this year – on the phone and in personal meetings.
Hamas terrorists attacked Israel at the weekend, killing hundreds of people. Israel then declared a state of war.