World

Trump Creates New Problems in Mideast, Hard to Anticipate - Abbas Advisor

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The United States, by organizing a conference on the Middle East in Warsaw, sought to establish an Israeli-Arab alliance against Iran rather than to find a long-lasting solution to the region's problems, in particular, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Nabil Shaath, an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said.
Sputnik

The "Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East" conference was held in the Polish capital on February 13-14. The event was devoted, among other issues, to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Iran's alleged destabilizing influence in the region was highlighted during the two-day conference.

READ MORE: Israeli Envoy to Poland Summoned Over Katz's Remarks on Poles' Anti-Semitism

"The idea of the Warsaw meeting was directed against Iran. It is an attempt to create an Arab-Israeli alliance against Iran, it is not an attempt to create peace in Palestine. It is not an attempt to create a solution to the problem of Palestine and, in fact, the problem of Israel," Shaath said at the plenary session of the Valdai Discussion Club's Middle East conference.

The official noted that the only possible solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict today was a two-state solution, admitting, however, that this would be hard to implement under the current Israeli and US administrations.

"[US President Donald] Trump is not the man who can create peace in the area. He is a man who can continue problems in the area and, in fact, create new problems in the area that are very difficult sometimes to anticipate," Shaath stressed.

Palestine acted sensibly when it rejected US President Donald Trump's "deal of the century" that aimed to solve the long-standing conflict between Palestine and Israel, Nabil Shaath said.

"We have taken, I think, the courageous step of saying 'no' to Mr. Trump, of rejecting the 'deal of the century.' I think it is not only courageous, I think it is wise," Shaath said at the plenary session of the Valdai Discussion Club's Middle East conference.

The official explained that Palestine did not have to see what the United States would say about the deal since the country had already begun to implement its strategy on the ground by supporting Israeli settlements and cutting down the number of people recognized as Palestinian refugees.

"We do not really need to see it. It is already being practiced by Mr. Trump and [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu. This idea of delaying to see the great surprise of the 'deal of the century' has already been totally dashed out. There is no deal that Palestinians can accept. There is no deal that the international law can accept. There is no deal that [would correspond to] the UN Security Council's resolutions," Shaath said.

Czech PM Says V4 Talks in Israel Cancelled After Poland Refuses to Participate
Participants of the summit in Warsaw, which lacked the participation of key regional players like Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey and Syria, agreed that Iran allegedly posed the greatest threat to peace and security in the region. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif criticized the event before it starts, calling it an "anti-Iran conference," and slammed Poland for hosting it.

The Russian Foreign Ministry refrained from participating in the Warsaw conference, calling the meeting a US "political project" aimed at promoting Washington's geopolitical interests within the international community.

Discuss