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Middle East conflict

Lavrov calls to cut vicious circle of violence in Palestinian-Israeli conflict

The foreign minister underscored that Russia does not discuss anything "behind the scenes" on this issue and "always operates in the open"

MOSCOW, December 28. /TASS/. It is necessary to cut the vicious circle of violence in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview for TASS.

"It is both unacceptable to justify - let alone encourage - terror attacks, and to respond to them via methods of collective punishment in gross violation of international humanitarian law," the minister said.

"It is necessary to cut the vicious circle of violence, to remove the injustice that several generations of Palestinians have been suffering from," he noted. According to Lavrov, "this is the only way to achieve stabilization in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict area and in the entire Middle Eastern region in general."

The foreign minister underscored that Russia does not discuss anything "behind the scenes" on this issue and "always operates in the open."

"It is time for everyone to learn a lesson from what the US’ attempts to play behind-the-scenes diplomacy in the Middle East resulted in," he noted. "It was precisely Washington’s course to monopolize mediation efforts and undermine the international legal settlement base that led to the current escalation in the conflict zone."

Lavrov pointed out that the Russian position "is based on the decisions of the UN Security Council and General Assembly, as well as the Arab Peace Initiative," noting that "the formula for a sustainable peace is well known."

"It implies the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with a capital in East Jerusalem, which will coexist in peace and security with Israel. The goal of international mediators is to help the sides establish a dialogue that would allow them to settle all disputes," he pointed out.

That said, the minister acknowledged that "this is not going to be easy."

"Yet the alternative to negotiations is the continued bloodshed. Without a ‘political horizon,’ the Israelis and Palestinians will keep going from one escalation to another, like it has been happening for 75 years already," Lavrov concluded.

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