By Elena Teslova
MOSCOW (AA) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that the war in the Gaza Strip must end with the establishment of a "full-fledged" Palestinian state, urging the Middle East Quartet to be reactivated in order to resume mediation efforts in the region.
"The primary solution to the Palestinian problem is the establishment of a fully-fledged Palestinian state. The Russian side has upheld this position since the Soviet era," he remarked during a meeting with BRICS media managers in Moscow.
Putin stressed reactivating the Middle East Quartet, a group of international organizations that includes the UN, US, UN, and Russia, to resume efforts to mediate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and initiate a peace process.
"It was a mistake by the US to disrupt the work of the Quartet... It would have been easier to coordinate all the positions. The US took over, monopolized the peace efforts, assuming full responsibility, and in the end, it failed," Putin said.
He stressed that Palestinians "will not leave" the Gaza Strip, warning that the region's humanitarian crisis will only increase the number of those determined to "defend their interests."
The upcoming BRICS summit in Kazan, from October 22-24, will include discussions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as it remains a significant global issue, he added.
Israel dramatically escalated its massive bombing campaign across Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing at least 1,437 people, injuring over 4,123 others, and displacing more than 1.34 million people.
The aerial campaign is an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of Israel's war on the Gaza Strip. More than 42,400 people, most of them women and children, have been killed since the war began in the wake of Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack on Israel.
Israel further expanded the escalation, invading Lebanon on Oct. 1.