Efforts to distance Russia from Middle East to fail: Russian diplomat

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
4 Jan 2023 10:01

Russia's Foreign Ministry's special representative for the Middle East says the US was attempting to "privatize" the Palestinian issue.

Vladimir Safronkov, Russia's Foreign Ministry's special representative for the Middle East

Vladimir Safronkov, the Russian Foreign Ministry's special representative for the Middle East, said that efforts to distance Moscow from the Middle East and change the nature of relations between Russia and the Arab states are "doomed to failure."

"I am convinced that any attempts to push Russia out of the region, to influence its relations with the regionals, to exclude it from" the process of finding a solution to the Palestinian cause or "any other crisis in the Middle East are a political 'nonsense' and doomed to failure," Safronkov told Sputnik.

The Russian diplomat considered that Washington is clearly isolating itself from the works carried out by the diplomatic "Quartet", which is comprised of the EU, the US, Russia, and the UN to tackle the issue in Palestine.

Safronkov also pointed out that the US was attempting to "privatize" the matter and that any efforts to tackle such complicated issues are "regarded as an impossible mission."

Russia ready to continue work within Middle East "Quartet":

Despite the US decision to terminate the so-called Middle East "Quartet", Russia is ready to continue working within this format, Safronkov further explained.

"It is not our decision to end the dialogue under the Quartet. Even in the current geopolitical realities, we are ready to return to collective work. They should make up their mind. In the meantime, we continue to work in our national capacity, relying on close interaction with all regional states," the diplomat said in the interview.

According to Safronkov, the US policy toward the Quartet is a continuation of Washington's course to scrap a number of multilateral formats.

This comes against the backdrop of recent provocations against the Palestinian people when Israeli Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque on Tuesday, protected by a large number of Israeli occupation forces.

According to Al Mayadeen correspondent, Ben-Gvir's storming of Al-Aqsa could trigger the battle early and put the Resistance before a major confrontation.

The move was largely condemned by several states across the world, including Jordan, which recently summoned the Israeli occupation ambassador over the incident.

On Tuesday, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry summoned Israeli Ambassador Amir Weissbrod to protest Ben-Gvir’s storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

The Ministry called on "Tel Aviv" to "refrain from any measures that would damage the sanctity of holy sites and put an end to attempts to change the historical and legal status quo."