MOSCOW

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov urged Israel on Saturday to abandon "essentially terrorist methods of settling political scores” as he commented on the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Lavrov said at a news conference in New York that he had the impression that Israel is trying to provoke Iran and the Lebanese resistance group, Hezbollah, to push the US into direct involvement in the conflict in the Middle East.

The Russian diplomat noted that Nasrallah's murder was not the first provocative step by Israel. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in July in the Iranian capital of Tehran where he went to take part in the funeral of President Ebrahim Raisi. Before that, Israel attacked the Iranian diplomatic mission in the Syrian capital of Damascus.

"Apparently, Israel wants to create a reason for the US to get involved in this war. And in order to create this reason, it has been provoking both Iran and Hezbollah. In this situation, Iranian leadership is behaving extremely responsibly," he said. "I don't think this is the right course, I am convinced that the bloodshed must be stopped.”

Asked about Israel's willingness to implement UN Security Council resolutions, Lavrov said: "I do not see Israel's desire to carry out any peace plans."

Lavrov then pledged to continue efforts to prevent the Mideast conflict from spreading to other countries.

He drew parallels between Israeli and Ukrainian actions, arguing, that President Volodymyr Zelensky has also been doing everything to provoke NATO's direct involvement in the fighting with Russia.

Commenting on the first meeting of the "Friends of Peace" initiative to resolve the Russian-Ukrainian war, promoted by China and Brazil, Lavrov said Moscow would monitor developments because at the moment the essence of the initiative is "for everything good and against everything bad."

The diplomat, however, questioned the presence of France and Switzerland at the meeting, stressing those states are not neutral and therefore cannot contribute to seeking a balanced solution.

Lavrov stressed that Russia always supports peace initiatives, the problem with Ukraine's position -- which still has a law banning any talks with Russia to its own detriment -- "Every time an agreement breaks down, which Russia always goes to -- every time Ukraine becomes smaller."

Turning to the statements by the Georgian government, blaming former President Mikheil Saakashvili for unleashing a war with South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Lavrov said, "The current Georgian leadership is just honestly assessing the past," adding that Russia is ready to contribute with Tbilisi's reconciliation with its neighbors.

As for Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposals to revise the nation's nuclear doctrine, Lavrov said Moscow believes his statements "were heard."

Russia, in the meanwhile, has no plans to increase its nuclear arsenals, he said.