The Middle East is “on the brink of a generalized war”, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned today as tensions in the region escalate, mainly between Israel and Hezbollah, while his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping called for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and stop the expansion of the conflict in Lebanon.
“The fighting spread to Lebanon. Other countries in the region are also affected. The level of confrontation between Israel and Iran has greatly increased.
All this looks like a chain reaction and brings the entire Middle East to the brink of total war,” Putin warned in his speech at the Brics summit in Kazan.
“It is necessary to end the violence, to offer vital aid to the victims,” he added, speaking before about twenty leaders, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Putin: What he said about a Palestinian state
“The most urgent thing is undoubtedly to start a comprehensive political process to solve the problem in the Middle East as a whole,” Putin stressed, describing the tension in the region as a “source of concern”.
“This is the worsening of a conflict that has existed for a long time,” assessed the Russian president.
Moreover, once again Putin called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state that would coexist peacefully with Israel.
Russia, historically close to Israel, home to a large Russian diaspora, has in recent months strengthened ties with Iran, Israel’s sworn enemy which the West accuses of providing drones and short-range missiles to Moscow for its war in Ukraine .
Xi Jinping: “World peace faces great challenges”
For his part, Xi said in his speech on the last day of the Brics summit that world peace still faces “great challenges”.
“The common path with the countries of the global south towards modernization is an important event in world history (…) At the same time, peace and development worldwide are still faced with great challenges,” the Chinese president assessed.
He noted that the countries of the south should be reduced to a “stabilizing force for peace”.
In addition, Xi called for a truce to be declared in the Gaza Strip and to avoid any extension of the conflict in Lebanon.
“We must continue to press for a cease-fire in Gaza, to revive the two-state solution and end the spread of the war in Lebanon,” the Chinese president stressed, adding that “the suffering and destruction must not continue in Palestine and Lebanon”.
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