“As for the Gaza Strip, the risk of this crisis escalating into a region-wide conflict is quite serious,” Lavrov told reporters.
“We are observing attempts to blame everything on Iran and we consider them quite provocative. The Iranian leadership, I believe, takes a fairly responsible, balanced position and is calling for preventing this conflict from spreading to the entire region and neighboring countries,” Lavrov said.
Russia and Turkiye are in contact on the situation in the Middle East, Sergey Lavrov added.
At a press point in Pyongyang, Lavrov was asked to comment on Turkiye’s initiative to create a system of guarantor countries for the parties to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for peaceful settlement.
“We are ready to discuss any constructive proposals. This initiative, which I heard the other day, is clearly dictated by the desire to achieve de-escalation and normalize the situation. What exactly is meant, we would, of course, like to hear from our Turkish friends with whom we are in contact on this issue as well," Lavrov said.
“We believe any approaches should be based on a balance of interests of the parties, and not the imposition of someone’s interests at the expense of the interests of others. It seems to me that the Turkish initiative is dictated by the desire to ensure such a balance. We will be ready to cooperate to consider it,” he said.
Contacts between Moscow and Pyongyang at various levels will continue, Lavrov said.
“A month ago there was contact at the top level, today at the high level. I am confident that they will continue,” Lavrov said at a press point in Pyongyang when asked whether the schedule of bilateral contacts on the high and top levels was discussed during his meeting with his North Korean counterpart.
Sergey Lavrov said that the intergovernmental commission of Russia and North Korea in November will discuss the cooperation in the geological survey and energy supplies.
"I have already mentioned that the 10th meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation is scheduled for next month," Lavrov told journalists in Pyongyang.
The minister added that all areas of cooperation, discussed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Vostochny spaceport in September, will be considered there.
"It includes geological survey, plans to supply energy and other goods that our friends from North Korea need," Lavrov said.
Western Military Activity on the Korean Peninsula
Russia, together with North Korea and China, stands for the establishment of a regular negotiation process on security issues on the Korean Peninsula without preconditions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
"We are pursuing this line jointly with North Korea and China and strive to constructively offer alternatives to escalating tensions. We advocate for the establishment of a regular negotiation process on security issues on the Korean Peninsula without preconditions,” Lavrov told reporters.
Russia and North Korea are seriously concerned about the intensification of military activity in the region by the United States, Japan and South Korea, and Washington’s policy of transferring strategic infrastructure, including nuclear aspects, to the region, the minister said, adding that Moscow and Pyongyang pursue a course to ensure de-escalation in the region and the inadmissibility of escalating tensions.