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Increased US military presence in Middle East fraught with escalation — Russian diplomat

"On our part, we consistently adhere to a stance in favor of the political and diplomatic settlement of the Middle Eastern conflict via launching Palestinian-Israeli talks," Alexey Zaitsev stressed

MOSCOW, October 20. /TASS/. Increasing the military presence of third countries in the conflict zone around the Gaza Strip is fraught with further escalation, Alexey Zaitsev, deputy director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said at a news briefing.

"Any build-up in military presence in the armed conflict zone by [other] countries, naturally, is fraught with risks of further escalation. Provocative statements, fraught with the expansion of an armed standoff to neighboring countries and even to the entire region, are being heard from different sides, directly or indirectly involved in the current confrontation around the Gaza Strip. We do not think that this is some kind of shortcut to improve the situation and achieve peace," he said, replying to a request to comment on the increased military presence of the US and other Western countries in the eastern Mediterranean.

"On our part, we consistently adhere to a stance in favor of the political and diplomatic settlement of the Middle Eastern conflict via launching Palestinian-Israeli talks. They should result in the creation of an independent Palestinian state on the established international legal foundation," the diplomat added.

Earlier, the US reported dispatching the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike groups to the eastern part of the Mediterranean in connection with the conflict around the Gaza Strip. Western media outlets also reported that the UK and Germany are considering the possibility of using their special forces to liberate their citizens from among the hostages in the Gaza Strip.

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Foreign policy United States

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