Russian foreign minister says scale of tragedy in Gaza 'deliberately' downplayed

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - The scale of tragedy in Gaza has been "deliberately downplayed," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.

"The scale of the tragedy in Gaza has been deliberately belittled, where in less than five months more civilians, including children and women, were killed than on both sides in Donbas in the 10 years since the unconstitutional coup in Kyiv," Lavrov said, speaking at a G20 ministerial meeting in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro.

The minister noted that G20 will hardly find solutions to the accumulated challenges and threats to global security.

He also invited the world's leading economies to clearly declare their refusal to use economics as a weapon and war as an investment, to demonstrate their commitment to open and equitable trade and economic cooperation.

"It is important to confirm that global banks and funds should not finance militaristic goals and aggressive regimes, but needy countries in the interests of sustainable development.

"This would be the contribution of the G20, in its area of responsibility, to creating material conditions for finding ways to resolve conflicts through inclusive diplomacy while respecting the central role of the UN Security Council, and not through closed formats and formulas based on ultimatums," he said.

Lavrov also suggested inviting the leading integration structures of other regions of the Global South in the work of the G20 on an equal basis.

Tensions have been running high across the occupied territory since Israel launched a military offensive against the Gaza Strip following an Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed some 1,200 people.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice over its onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has left more than 29,300 people dead.

In an interim ruling in January, the Hague-based court ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.