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Middle East conflict

Russia calls for immediate ceasefire in Gaza, Lebanon — ambassador in Israel

Anatoly Viktorov noted the "strategic failure" of the US policy

TEL AVIV, October 21. /TASS/. Russia calls on all sides to immediately stop hostilities in Gaza and Lebanon and seek settlement through diplomacy, Russian Ambassador to Tel Aviv Anatoly Viktorov said in an address to an Israel-studies conference organized by the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

"Our unwavering position on the developments in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon has been consistently publicized at the Security Council and other UN forums, in bilateral contacts with Israelis, Palestinians and representatives of virtually all countries in the region. We call on all sides to exercise restraint and immediately halt hostilities, which would prevent further bloodshed, make it possible to urgently address the catastrophically deteriorating humanitarian situation, including the release of forcibly detained persons, and create conditions for a political and diplomatic settlement on the basis of the well-known decisions of the Security Council and the UN General Assembly," he said via video link.

"The unresolved Palestinian-Israeli conflict has a destabilizing effect on the entire Middle East region, including the escalation of the Lebanese-Israeli confrontation and attempts to provoke a major war," he went on to say.

Viktorov noted the "strategic failure" of the US policy. According to the diplomat, the policy seeks to "replace the Middle East settlement process with economic half-measures and monopolize it without taking into account vital interests of the peoples living there.

"The Americans continue to block the work of the UN Security Council and the mechanism approved by it: the Middle East quartet of international mediators," consisting of Russia, the United States, the EU and the UN, he said.

The United States, "as is becoming increasingly obvious, is not really engaged in the Middle East settlement," he continued. The country "in the current dramatic situation is unable to exert a restraining influence on the conflicting sides in order to prevent a region-wide confrontation," the ambassador said.

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