Lavrov slams US for fueling hostilities in Middle East, use of vetoes

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
23 Jan 2024 20:43
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During sessions held at the UN Security Council last year, the US employed its veto power to block the implementation of a permanent ceasefire in Gaza three times.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attends his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

In an interview with CBS on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov underscored that the United States needs to cease hostilities and refrain from vetoing UN ceasefire resolutions to address the crisis in the Middle East.

"Stop the fighting. Don't use veto when a resolution is proposed to declare a humanitarian ceasefire. You used vetoes twice. There is no reaction from the Security Council as regards to demand a ceasefire. And of course, don't drag on like your predecessors did for decades on creating the Palestinian state," Lavrov said.

During sessions held at the UN Security Council last year, the US employed its veto power to block the implementation of a permanent ceasefire in Gaza three times.

The first time was on October 18, 2023, with a Brazil-drafted UN Security Council resolution, the second was on December 8, 2023, with a UAE-drafted resolution, and the third was on December 22, 2023, with Russian-drafted resolution.

Elsewhere in his comments, the top Russian diplomat said that no discussions have taken place with former US President Donald Trump regarding to the ongoing situation in Ukraine.

"We did not have any chance to discuss anything like this with President Trump or anybody else in the United States … The current administration is not interested in having any dialogue except from time to time on issues of the detainees, exchanges, functioning of the two embassies … but not on any policy matters," Lavrov said.

In January last year, Trump claimed that if he were President, he would have ended the Ukrainian conflict within the span of 24 hours by negotiation, noting that the war would have never occured if he were still President.

US shaping 'colonial administration' in Ukraine

Earlier this month, the head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service(SVR), Sergey Naryshkin, revealed that Washington began creating "a colonial administration" in Ukraine of local politicians who have sworn allegiance to the US.

He pointed out that the US government has demanded that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky "remove" dozens of high-ranking officials, whom Washington no longer trusts, from their posts under various pretexts, and replace them with "Ukrainians trained in the West, who have sworn allegiance to American interests."

"As part of the policy of total vassalization of Ukraine, the US has started forming what is essentially a colonial administration in that country," Naryshkin stated, adding that those instructions from Washington were given to him when he visited in December.

"The Americans are pushing for Ukrainian ambassador to Washington Oksana Markarova, who received her education at Indiana University Bloomington, to take the post of prime minister. The deputy head of the Finance Ministry, Alexander Kava, who studied at Harvard University, is being suggested for the job of finance minister. The current deputy head of the Economy Ministry, Taras Kachka, a graduate of Poland’s National School of Public Administration (KSAP), is recommended for the post of economy minister," he said.