MOSCOW

Israel has pushed the settlement with Palestine far back by its actions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

Speaking at a news conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Lavrov said Moscow cannot accept the methods the Israeli troops are employing in their military operation in the Gaza Strip.

"In reality, the destruction of civilians is happening, and most importantly, if we body_abstract from today's humanitarian tragedy, the most important thing is that these (Israeli) actions further delay the prospect of sustainable long-term peace in the Middle East through the creation of a Palestinian state in full accordance with UN decisions," he added.

Lavrov emphasized that instability in the Middle East directly impacts not only the adjacent territories, but militants also flee the region in the direction of areas neighboring Russia -- the Central Asia and the Caucasus.

The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) adopted four statements after its June 20-21 meeting in Almaty, with one of them on the situation in the Middle East and North Africa, with particular emphasis on the state of affairs in Gaza, the minister said.

"This is also a direction that we are closely monitoring and trying to contribute to calming the situation by channeling it into a process of searching for political solutions based on the resolutions by UN Security Council and the General Assembly," he said.

Israel has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians since Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border incursion by Hamas that claimed around 1,200 lives. The attacks have triggered a humanitarian disaster and an ongoing trial over alleged genocide at the International Court of Justice.

Armenia's withdrawal from CSTO

Asked if the CSTO foreign ministers discussed Armenia's possible withdrawal from the bloc, Lavrov said despite statements from Armenian leaders and the absence of Yerevan's top diplomat at the meeting, no formal request in this regard had been submitted.

"Yes, the Armenian minister was not present at the meeting today, but there was no document from Armenia, no official step that would make it necessary to discuss the consequences of something that hasn't happened, because there was no corresponding request for withdrawal," he said.

Earlier this month, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said withdrawing from the military alliance might be the next step for Armenian authorities. "The next logical step will be to leave the CSTO. We will decide whether it will be in a month, a year, or three years," he said.

Turning to the situation in Ukraine, where Russia continues a "special military operation" since February 2022, Lavrov said President Vladimir Putin's peace initiative, voiced on June 14, has already become Moscow's fourth proposal for a settlement in Ukraine.

Putin had called on Ukraine to withdraw its troops from Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, agree with Russia's territorial gains, confirm its neutral status, and cancellation of all anti-Russian sanctions by the West.

The minister rejected criticism of Russia's territorial claims on Ukraine, arguing that the country would still be within its 1991 borders if the settlement agreement reached in February 2014 had not been disrupted.

He said Kyiv agreed on Russia's claims on Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions under the draft agreement approved in March 2022 in Istanbul, but later refused to proceed further.

Since then, the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions "expressed their willingness to join Russia," the minister said, warning that the situation might further change and urged Ukraine to accept Moscow's proposals.

Russian forces have been advancing in Ukraine's Kharkiv region in recent weeks. Military experts earlier told Anadolu that Moscow might lay claims on Ukraine's Odesa and Mykolayiv regions as well.