Russian Foreign Minister: Time Has Come to Ensure the Establishment of a Palestinian State

New York, September 26 (KUNA) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed on Saturday that the time has come to resolve the core issue in the Middle East by ensuring the establishment of a Palestinian state, while warning of the continued deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the escalation of Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank. This came during a speech delivered by Lavrov at the high-level general debate of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, in which he stated that “despite the UN Security Council’s adoption of a peace plan for the Gaza Strip, peace has not yet been achieved.” Lavrov pointed to the ongoing deterioration in the West Bank, with the occupation forces intensifying their settlement activities, and called on the United Nations and all its member states to seek ways to address these developments in the Middle East and neighboring regions. He emphasized that achieving lasting peace requires the commitment of key actors to the UN Charter and the principle of equal, indivisible security, and that no state should seek to enhance its own security at the expense of other countries’ security. He noted that global politics is undergoing profound shifts toward a more multipolar and just world order, citing the growing role of the Global South and the Global East as sovereign powers and centers of development. On the issue of UN reform, Lavrov expressed his country’s support for expanding the representation of Asian, African, and Latin American countries in international institutions, affirming Russia’s backing for Brazil and India to obtain permanent seats on the Security Council. Regarding artificial intelligence, the Russian Foreign Minister stressed that the rules governing the use of this technology must be based on equality and the participation of all countries, noting his country’s support for China’s initiative to establish an international organization for cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence. (End) A.S.T. / M.A.H.A.