Claims by the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom that Russian President Vladimir Putin allegedly promised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2016 to block the US-proposed the UN Security Council resolution on recognizing the State of Palestine within the borders of 1948 are "absolutely absurd". the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova told a briefing.
"Unfortunately, the practice of false information stuffing has long been a characteristic feature of our time," she said. "It is particularly disappointing when officials become the object of this kind of misinformation, since they are guided by their statements and determine foreign and domestic policy."
An article in an Israeli newspaper on June 15 claimed that Netanyahu at a closed meeting allegedly told that at the end of 2016, the administration of the former US President Barack Obama allegedly intended to introduce a resolution to the UN Security Council requiring the Jewish state to recognize Palestine within the borders of 1948. Then the Israeli leader, according to the newspaper, called the Russian President with a request to block such a resolution, which Putin allegedly agreed to. After that, Obama decided not to offer the document for consideration by the UN Security Council.
"The correspondent of the said newspaper, as it seems, just not familiar with Middle Eastern realities, which is weird because it sounds so unbelievable, especially any American leader to return to the borders that existed from 1948 to 1967, are the basis of a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict supported by Russia and most countries in the world, Zakharova said. "Apparently, the author is also unaware that our country long before the events described, in 1988, recognized the State of Palestine within these borders, including East Jerusalem."
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry also pointed out that if the United States wanted to recognize Palestine within the borders of 1948, it could do so in a national capacity, without taking the issue to the UN Security Council.
"In conclusion, I would like to once again confirm Russia's principled position in support of a comprehensive, sustainable Palestinian-Israeli settlement through direct negotiations between the parties under the auspices of the UN, based on the generally recognized international legal framework-the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and General Assembly, the Arab peace initiative and the Madrid principles," Zakharova concluded.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Mikhail Tereshchenko / TASS
Based on materials from TASS