Blinken Failed to Offer Steps to End Violence in Middle East, Palestinian Foreign Minister Says

"Blinken told us that he has spoken to the Israeli side, and it's very important that both sides, the Israelis and the Palestinians, take measures in order really to deescalate the situation. But no concrete proposals were made. He left last night, the meeting, without any concrete measures or agreement on anything. It means that we do not see any prospects for the situation to deescalate in the next days", al-Maliki told in his interview with Sputnik.

“The massacre that happened in Jenin was evident of what to expect from the Israeli side. It's very obvious that the Americans have come in order really to see if they can intervene in order to calm the situation down. We told them that they have to speak to the Israelis. They are the ones who are escalating the situation further. And the new Israeli government and the new ministers. They are the ones who have called for confrontation. They are the ones who have called for death to the Palestinians, the demolition of Palestinian homes, et cetera. And so if there is any way in order to deescalate is for the Israelis to stop their unilateral actions", he stated

"No, this time he did not speak about Ukraine and Russia. Yes, in previous meetings, he did, not in this one because I believe he came to the conclusion that he cannot get that condemnation from us. He realized that where we stand, and that further, requesting further positions from the Palestinian side won't really change anything. So I think he came to that conclusion, and that's why he avoided being embarrassed by raising this issue again this time", the minister suggested.

"But in general, the pressure with regard to this issue is still there. Last week we were in Brussels with the Prime Minister, where we met with the 27 European foreign ministers. Some of them, not all, maybe two or three countries have raised this issue of Ukraine and Russia. But obviously we answered once again promptly and forcefully. And so they stopped raising this issue. I believe, we managed very since day one to present our positions clearly. And I think many countries realized that they cannot really extract from us any position that contradicts with our principles and where we stand in terms of our relationship with Russia tradition", he noted.

"Minister Sergey Lavrov, in his telephone call, invited me to Moscow and I will see when to make that visit. I always enjoy meeting with him and exchanging views and discussing bilateral relations, but also regional and international relationship. And so we'll see when that would happen. But yes, I am contemplating a visit to Moscow to meet with my colleague Sergey Lavrov, probably in the next couple of months", the minister noted.