MOSCOW, January 17. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will take part in an open debate on the Middle East and a meeting on Ukraine at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on January 22-24, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced at a news briefing.
"In the period from January 22 to January 24, Russian Foreign Minister plans to take part in a UNSC quarterly open debate on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue, and a meeting on Ukraine initiated by our country," she said.
"As regards the discussion of the Ukrainian issue, we consider it a good opportunity to once again convey Russia's position, including on political and diplomatic means of settling the crisis, taking into account Russia's legitimate security interests," the diplomat added.
The upcoming event on the Middle East is expected to discuss ways out of the violent crisis between Israel and Palestine which affects the situation in the entire region, Zakharova said. According to her, since the very start of the unprecedented bout of violence on occupied Palestinian territory, mostly in the Gaza Strip, Russia "has strongly pushed for an immediate ceasefire <…> and restoration of the political horizon in the Middle East settlement process," she concluded.