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Middle East conflict

Biden administration blocks any effort for settlement in Middle East — Lavrov

The Russian foreign minister emphasized that Russia condemns terrorism in all its forms but categorically rejects "collective punishment of the residents of Gaza and the West Bank"

MINSK, October 31. /TASS/. The US policy in the Middle East has brought the region to the brink of a major war, Washington is blocking any effort to settle the conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the plenary session of the 2nd Minsk International Conference on Eurasian Security.

"The situation in the Middle Eastern part of Eurasia is developing even more dramatically," he noted. "The unilateral withdrawal of the US from the agreements on the Iranian nuclear program, which were approved by the UN Security Council, as well as Washington’s persistent desire to monopolize the process of Arab-Israeli settlement turned out to have catastrophic consequences, putting this strategically important region on the brink of total destabilization and a major war. The administration of [US President Joe] Biden is blocking any effort to bring an end to the tragedy of the Palestinian people," the foreign minister added.

Lavrov emphasized that Russia condemns terrorism in all its forms but categorically rejects "collective punishment of the residents of Gaza and the West Bank." "The West tries to stay silent about it, but in one year of Israel's operations, twice as many Palestinian civilians have been killed as there were civilian casualties on both sides in the ten years following the coup d'etat in Kiev." "Just consider these figures," he added.

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Foreign policy Sergey Lavrov United States

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