Middle East
Russia is very concerned about the deadlock in the settlement of the Middle Eastern conflict and has proposed to mediate direct talks between the leaders of Israel and Palestine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
"We are very worried by a deadlock, which is worsening, in the settlement of the Palestine-Israeli conflict. The absence of the Palestinian problem during a 70-year period is used by extremists to recruit youth, citing the actions of the international community as for the nation suffering as a result of the oldest conflict," Lavrov stated.
The minister added that "the absence of a direct dialogue is bad" and Moscow had proposed to host the meeting between the leaders of Israel and Palestine.
"As soon as they are ready… of course we will provide them with an opportunity to discuss the situation. I hope that it would help us to drive from the deadlock in this negotiation process. Its absence has a very negative impact on the situation in the region and on the relations between the Palestinians and Israel," the minister added.
Commenting on the situation in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Syria’s partition must not be allowed as it could cause a chain reaction throughout the whole Middle East.
"No partition should be allowed. A chain reaction will go throughout the whole Middle East. This is what someone would probably like to achieve — those for whom it is profitable to constantly maintain chaos there … The first step when terrorism will be defeated – and I am sure it will be – should be removing all those who stay in Syria illegitimately."
"This is a complex crisis, and the negotiations [on Syria] will take a long time," Lavrov added.
De-escalation zones in Syria are aimed at helping to encourage consolidating of the political forces in Syria, including the opposition, Lavrov stated.
According to him, the concept of de-escalation zones was initially announced as a temporary measure.
"The six-month period during which the concept would remain in force; even in this case it is stated that in parallel with the zones of de-escalation, we want to encourage the process of national reconciliation so that the national dialogue begins, so that the ground for the political process in addition to what is done in Geneva is prepared," Lavrov said at a press conference in the United Nations.
North Korea
Russia and China will continue to pursue a sensible, rather than an emotional approach to solving the problem around the North Korea, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
"Together with China we will continue to pursue a sensible approach, an emotional one, as if children in the kindergarten began to fight each other and no one can stop them."
Russia has no new proposals for resolving the crisis on the Korean peninsula, the potential of the Russian-Chinese roadmap is not exhausted, Lavrov said.
"We do not have new proposals regarding the nuclear problem of the Korean peninsula, because we are convinced that the potential of the Russian-Chinese road map is far from being exhausted, and we do not hear reasonable arguments in response to our proposal to start working on it and do not hear the explanatory reasons why our Western partners, including the United States, cannot do this."
A pause is needed in the situation around the North Korea, hot heads must be cooled, as a war on the Korean peninsula is unacceptable, Lavrov stressed.
"It's unacceptable to look silently at North Korea's nuclear missile adventures, but it's also unacceptable to unleash a war on the Korean peninsula… So, hotheads must be cooled down. It is necessary to understand that a pause is needed, as well as some contacts. If there are ones willing to mediate, I would actively welcome it."
Myanmar
Russian Foreign Minister underlined that the current state of affairs regarding the conflict in Myanmar shows that everyone understands that there is need to start a political dialogue in order to settle the crisis.
"We stress that Myanmar's authorities in response to the [foreign] calls started to take into account the opinion of the international community and the need to ensure the humanitarian aspects of its activities," Lavrov said, adding that Myanmar's authorities were working to implement the recommendations of the international organizations.
"I think that everyone has already understood that the situation should be converted to a political dialogue," the minister added.
