Top Russian diplomat says Gaza war cannot be ignored in UN Security Council

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Russia's top diplomat said on Monday that the conflict in Gaza cannot be ignored in the UN Security Council as it is the “main international problem today.”

“This issue cannot be ignored in the (UN) Security Council, because it is truly the main international problem today. No matter what anyone tries to portray as different,” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference with his Egyptian counterpart Bady Abdelatty in Moscow.

Expressing that Moscow welcomes any steps aimed at stopping the bloodshed in Gaza as soon as possible and ensuring a sustainable and permanent cease-fire, Lavrov said Russia and Egypt are striving for the same in the UN Security Council.

“The whole problem is that the United States does not want to miss any decisions that would seriously imply what everyone wants - an end to the bloodshed,” Lavrov added.

He recalled that US representatives submitted a draft resolution on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to the UN Security Council several months ago, which he described as "very murky and vague."

“But they (the US) said this was enough, (that) Israel agreed with this approach, and everything would be fine. We asked for evidence, and asked our Israeli colleagues to confirm their agreement with what was written in the American document. They refused to do this, so we were forced to abstain on that resolution," Lavrov added.

He said Russia abstained from the vote rather than vetoing it at the request of their Arab colleagues, including Palestine, who said they wanted to "give a chance to the document that the Americans advertised so much."

“The resolution was adopted, and since it was adopted on empty paper, it remains an empty paper now. No promises from the United States were fulfilled, but this does not mean that we should stop our efforts,” he said, adding that the war risks becoming a frozen conflict if all parties do not comply with UN decisions on the creation of a Palestinian state.​​​​​​​

Israel has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza since a cross-border attack by Palestinian group Hamas that claimed 1,200 lives and around 250 others were taken as hostages. About 101 captives are still believed to be in the blockaded enclave. Efforts for a deal to end the war continue, but to no avail.