All news

Biden’s remarks on Nasrallah’s assassination reflects US’ approach to conflicts — Lavrov

The US President said that this was a right decision

UNITED NATIONS, September 28. /TASS/. US President Joe Biden’s words that the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was right demonstrates the US’ approach to how one should behave in conflicts and what one should be guided by, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during a press conference in the wake of his participation in the UN General Assembly session.

"What happened in Beirut yesterday was a yet another political assassination. And I’ve heard that President Biden said that this was a right decision; I suppose, they have a somewhat different attitude to how to behave in conflicts and what to be guided by," he said.

The United States wants to monopolize mediation efforts in the Middle East, Lavrov noted as well. 

"The Americans want to stop all mechanisms created to assist Middle Eastern [peace] processes. First of all, this applies to the Middle East Quartet of mediators that comprised Russia, the United States, the United Nations and the European Union," he said. "As you can see now, the Americans want to monopolize mediation, and, although they are organizing various formats with our colleagues from Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, they are still attempting to bring it all under their own control."

In his words, the United States "is drafting documents <…> which they believe will resolve the conflict."

"But Israel is putting forward more and more demands every time," Lavrov added.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 250 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as retaliation for the aggressive actions taken by Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians before the crisis, launching air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria before starting a ground operation in the Palestinian enclave.