Russia would back Security Council resolution on Palestinian state
Moscow announces support for anticipated Abbas bid to set timetable for independence
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
Russia announced plans to back an anticipated UN resolution that would set a timetable for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The resolution, which Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said is to be presented shortly to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), would be the first of its kind since the “State of Palestine” was admitted to the United Nations as a non-member observer state in 2012.
“I cannot see any reasons to object to this text, or about Palestinian people’s wish to say once again ‘let’s have a look at this situation, in the UN framework’,” Moscow’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Sunday at a Cairo conference on post-conflict reconstruction in Gaza, according to official Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
“So we say [to Palestinians], if you find one option or another suitable, then we will support you as friends…. We think that the Palestinian case is fair, meaning that people have a right to self-determination, up to establishing their state,” Bogdanov told journalists.
The PA is seeking international recognition for a state based on the pre-1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Russia’s support for the anticipated resolution is unsurprising. The Palestinians are seeking to win the backing of at least 9 of the 15 UNSC members. This would force a US veto to block the resolution.
The United States would almost certainly shoot down any such resolution. While Washington supports a two-state solution, it has been steadfast in maintaining that Palestinian statehood must be negotiated by Israel and the PA.
The Times of Israel Community.