Russian leader says country’s focus is on war in Ukraine but deplores ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ in Gaza
Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas that he is “concerned” by the high number of Palestinian civilian casualties in Gaza.
At a meeting in Moscow on Tuesday, Abbas said Russia was considered one of the “dearest friends” of the Palestinian people, while Putin reaffirmed Russia’s support for a two-state solution.
“Everyone knows well that Russia today, unfortunately, has to defend its interests and its people with weapons in hand. But what is happening in the Middle East, what is happening in Palestine, of course, does not go unnoticed by us,” Putin said, according to a Kremlin report.
“And of course, we are watching with great pain and anxiety the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Palestine,” he added.
The meeting comes amid rising regional tensions, with Israel bracing for retaliatory attacks from Iran and Hezbollah following a series of assassinations of senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.
Russia, which has long sought to balance its cordial relations with Palestinian groups and Israel, has drawn Israel’s ire since the start of the Gaza war by hosting Hamas delegations and highlighting the suffering of civilians in Gaza, where the Israeli campaign has killed nearly 40,000 people and displaced more than 90 percent of the population.
While Russia has tried to position itself as a potential peacemaker in the conflict, its energies are largely focused on Ukraine, where its forces failed to overcome fierce Ukrainian opposition after invading that country in February 2022.
On Tuesday, Russia’s state news agency TASS quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov as saying his government “calls on everyone to refrain from escalating the situation to prevent it from turning into a catastrophe for all regional players.”
