MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/. Russia welcomes the fact that the new US administration has returned to the two-state solution in settling the Middle Eastern conflict, Russian Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told TASS on Monday.
"We’ve always said that a political solution was needed, a stable, just, long-term [solution]. And it certainly should be based on an international legal foundation that exists - resolutions of the UN Security Council, of the UN General Assembly, the Arab Peace Initiative. All of this is well-known," he said. "And of course, it is good that now the new administration has returned to the understanding that the principle should be the creation of two states - Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security," he added.
On May 17, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki stated that US President Joe Biden stands for the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of coexistence of the two states.
On the night into May 21, a ceasefire became effective between Israel and Palestinian radicals from the Gaza Strip who have been exchanging missile strikes for 11 days. The Israeli side reported 13 fatalities. The coastal enclave had about 1,800 residential units completely, and 16,800 - partially destroyed. In downtown Gaza, five major residential high-rises were completely razed, while 74 state offices and institutions were demolished across the entire Strip. Almost 250 residents of the enclave were killed in the standoff, and about 2,000 have been wounded.