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US votes at UNSC reveal its opposition to Middle East ceasefire — senior Russian diplomat

Sergey Vershinin also added that efforts to resolve the conflict would continue

MOSCOW, October 26. /TASS/. The US stance during voting on UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions reveals that it does not actually support a ceasefire in the Middle East, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin told the Rossiya-24 TV channel.

Recent votes on unsuccessful UNSC draft resolutions on settling the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which "failed to secure support because of the American position," are "links in the same chain," the diplomat stressed.

"The main thing that can be seen is that Washington's so-called red lines are very clearly visible, such as they are," he went on to say. "First of all, the Americans are against an immediate ceasefire, and second, they are against condemning indiscriminate attacks against civilians in the Gaza Strip," Vershinin said.

The diplomat also added that efforts to resolve the conflict would continue. "The UN General Assembly’s special session on Palestine begins today. A draft resolution put forward by the Arab group is already there. And it should be said that Russia, by virtue of its fundamental policy, has become its co-author," the senior diplomat summed up.

Four draft resolutions on the Middle East have already been put to a vote at the UNSC. Two of them were drafted by Russia, while Brazil and the United States submitted one draft each. None of the documents was passed.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and has been delivering rocket attacks on Gaza as well as some districts in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.