Russia Says US Must Stop Hostilities, Ceasefire Vetoes in Order to Stabilize Middle East

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – Russian Foreign Minster Sergey Lavrov, in an interview with CBS, said that the US must stop its hostilities and stop vetoing UN ceasefire resolutions in order resolve the crisis in the Middle East, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

“Stop the fighting. Don't use veto when a resolution is proposed to declare humanitarian ceasefire. You used vetoes twice. There is no reaction from the Security Council as regards to demand a ceasefire. And of course, don't drag on like your predecessors did for decades on creating the Palestinian state,” Lavrov said.

During the interview, Sergey Lavrov weighed in on the latest violent spiral of the Palestine-Israel conflict, saying that more and more cruelty will occur in the Arab and Muslim world until a Palestinian state is created.

On October 7, 2023, Palestinian movement Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip while its fighters breached the border, opening fire on the military and civilians. As a result, over 1,200 people in Israel were killed and some 240 others abducted. Israel launched retaliatory strikes, ordered a complete blockade of Gaza and launched a ground incursion into the Palestinian enclave with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages.

The death toll from Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, when the Palestine-Israel conflict escalated, has increased to 25,105, while more than 62,600 others have been injured, the enclave's health ministry said on Sunday.