• Top diplomat draws parallels between Israeli and Ukrainian politicians, saying Tel Aviv seeks to involve US in war against Iran, whereas Kyiv seeks NATO's direct involvement in conflict against Russia

MOSCOW

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to stand up in support of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeeping troops who have been targeted by Israeli army attacks in southern Lebanon over the past week.

At a press conference in Istanbul after a meeting of the 3+3 format on the South Caucasus involving Iran, Russia, Türkiye, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, Lavrov said the participants extensively discussed the situation in the Middle East.

“When UN peacekeepers in Lebanon are forced to relocate because Israel needs to strike the positions they occupy, it crosses a (red) line. I sincerely hope that the UN secretary-general will take a principled stance in support of his staff,” Lavrov emphasized.

Lavrov noted that Iran, Russia, Türkiye, Armenia, and Azerbaijan supported efforts to de-escalate the Middle East crisis and called for an end to indiscriminate attacks on civilians and UN peacekeepers.

Over the last week, Israel has repeatedly targeted UNIFIL positions in southern Lebanon, eliciting worldwide condemnation and raising concerns about its larger military plans.

He also condemned strikes against Syria and Iraq, as well as Israel’s practice of "political assassinations."

The top Russian diplomat drew parallels between Israeli and Ukrainian politicians, pointing out that Tel Aviv seeks to involve the US in a war against Iran, whereas Kyiv seeks NATO's direct involvement in the conflict against Russia.

“One of the objectives is to drag Iran into hostilities, hoping this will eventually pull the US into a war in the Middle East against Iran. I am convinced that responsible Western politicians see through these plans, both in the Middle East and Ukraine, and that these schemes will come to nothing,” Lavrov said.

In his concluding remarks, the top Russian envoy backed the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), urging the UN secretary-general to defend his organization's critical humanitarian role in the Gaza Strip.

UNRWA has been hindered from doing its job since January 2024, when Israel accused 12 of its thousands of employees in Gaza of being involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

Amid a probe of the claims, at least 16 countries, including the US, paused or suspended funding to the agency, and its aid work for Gaza’s famine-stricken population has suffered. But most of the key donors resumed aid after an independent review of UNRWA found that Israel had not provided any evidence to back its claims.

UNRWA was created by the UN General Assembly more than 70 years ago to assist Palestinians who were forcibly displaced from their land.

Israel dramatically escalated its massive bombing campaign across Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing at least 1,437 people, injuring over 4,123 others, and displacing more than 1.34 million people.

The aerial campaign is an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of Israel's war on the Gaza Strip. More than 42,400 people, most of them women and children, have been killed since the war began in the wake of Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack on Israel.

Israel began its ground invasion of Lebanon on Oct. 1.