President Putin accuses the US of inciting tensions in the Middle East
(Baonghean.vn) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 11 accused the US of causing tension in the Middle East by deploying an aircraft carrier group to the region, while declaring that "compromise solutions" were necessary and expressing hope that common sense would prevail.
The Kremlin chief said the flare-up in violence between Israel and the Palestinians was a vivid example of the failure of US policy in the Middle East, which he said had failed to take into account the needs of the Palestinians. After a surprise attack by Hamas militants on Israel over the weekend, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the US was moving an aircraft carrier strike group, including the USS Gerald R Ford, closer to Israel.
Speaking at the plenary session of the Russian Energy Week in Moscow, President Putin stressed that the US move, which was harshly criticized by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, was a mistake.
"I don't understand why the US is dragging an aircraft carrier group into the Mediterranean. I really don't understand the meaning. Are they going to bomb Lebanon? Or have they decided to scare someone? There are people there who are no longer afraid of anything. This is not the way to solve the problem. It is necessary to look for compromise solutions. Of course, such actions are escalating the situation," Putin said.
Mr Putin, who is locked in a standoff with the West over Ukraine, accused Washington of sidestepping the established process of trying to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by unsuccessfully trying to resolve the issue itself and failing to address the fundamental issues.
“Now we hear that Iran is being accused of all sorts of things, as usual, without any evidence. Let’s see, let’s hope common sense prevails,” Putin said, describing the violence in Israel as “horrific,” saying the wider conflict could not be resolved without addressing issues such as the creation of a Palestinian state.
He warned that any escalation in the conflict zone could have serious consequences for various sectors, including energy. “First of all, it could affect logistics, insurance and cargo transportation,” Putin said. “Of course, it would not affect production, but it could affect all the other components that determine the state of the world energy market.”
In his speech, President Putin stated that Russia has always supported the implementation of the UN Security Council's decision on the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. He also said that Russia's position on resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict did not stem from recent tragic events but was formed over many decades. "And this position is well known to both the Israeli side and our friends in Palestine," President Putin affirmed.
According to the Russian President, today in many countries there are still political figures and experts who believe that it is necessary to follow the path of building an independent state. "And there are such people in Israel. But those who have been trying to solve the Israeli-Palestinian problem by force for decades have the upper hand. Unfortunately, this leads to tragic events like the ones we are witnessing now," Mr. Putin said./.
