MOSCOW, January 18. /TASS/. US President Joe Biden and other Western leaders understand that it will be difficult to resolve the volatile situation in the Middle East without creating a Palestinian state, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"The fact that Biden and [US Secretary of State Antony] Blinken, as well as the Europeans, have now begun to talk about the need to start moving towards creating a Palestinian state shows that they understand that it will be very difficult to calm the situation down without taking this step," Lavrov pointed out at his annual news conference devoted to reviewing Moscow’s main foreign policy achievements in 2023. "However, it’s not enough anymore to start moving. There is a need to arrange meetings and create conditions to bring the Palestinians and the Israelis to the negotiating table," he added.

According to Lavrov, it’s not right to let "the Americans conspire with someone and make agreements, trying to decide for Palestinians what Palestine would look like." "It’s up to the Palestinians to decide. Meanwhile, what the US is currently doing, trying to write everything down to make sure that it suits them [the Americans], is nothing but a manifestation of the same neo-colonial practices," the top Russian diplomat stressed.