MOSCOW, Oct 13 (The African Portal) – Moscow expects that all the agreements on the Gaza Strip reached at a summit in Sharm el-Sheikh will be implemented while US President Donald Trump and regional leaders ensure an immediate ceasefire, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a meeting with journalists from Arab countries.
“We sincerely wish success for today’s event, the top-level meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh attended, as I understand, by over 20 countries, both from the Arab world and several Western states,” the top Russian diplomat said. “I hope that all agreements will be fulfilled, even though we hear statements both from Hamas and from Tel Aviv that nothing is over yet and the crisis may resume,” he added.
“I believe that it is very important that those who initiated this forum, above all, President Trump, with support from the Egyptian president, the leadership of Qatar and Turkey, prevent such a development and focus primarily on the necessity of an immediate ceasefire and the observance of the policy course that was agreed on for the withdrawal of Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip, the adjustment of humanitarian aid and, certainly, the restoration of this significant place on Earth which probably suffered more than other territories across the globe over post-war years,” the Russian foreign minister noted.
Lavrov emphasized that “the long-term settlement of this situation is possible only if UN decisions on creating a Palestinian state are fulfilled.”
A peace summit in Sharm el-Sheikh is convened following an official conclusion of a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip. That said, representatives from the Gaza-based Palestinian movement Hamas and Israel who held talks on ending hostilities in the embattled enclave and on swapping the hostages held there for Palestinian prisoners, refused to participate in the meeting.
According to Egypt’s information portal As-Shorouq, the summit will be attended by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Earlier, the US Axios portal reported that the upcoming summit will bring together the leaders or top diplomats from the UK, Germany, Indonesia, Jordan, Italy, Qatar, the UAE, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and France.
Credit: TASS
