*Blames US for Middle East violence
“I believe many would agree with me that it is a glaring example of the failures of the US Middle East policies. They tried to monopolize the peace settlement, but unfortunately paid no attention to searching for compromises that would be acceptable for both parties.”
The ongoing crisis in the Middle East triggered by last week’s surprise incursion by the Palestinian militant group Hamas into southern Israel is a testament to Washington’s inability to resolve conflicts, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
“I believe many would agree with me that it is a glaring example of the failures of the US Middle East policies. They tried to monopolize the peace settlement, but unfortunately paid no attention to searching for compromises that would be acceptable for both parties,” the Russian leader explained on Tuesday.
Instead, Washington put pressure on both sides in an attempt to impose its own solutions on them, he added. The US “never took into account the core interests of the Palestinian people,” Putin claimed. Those interests primarily involve the creation of an independent Palestinian nation state, as outlined in resolutions of the UN Security Council, he noted.
Putin made the remarks during a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudan in Moscow. The Russian president said he believed the two nations were united in prioritizing the minimization of harm done to civilians by both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
