During the Russian Energy Week yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin detailed developments in Russia’s oil and gas sector, but in the Q&A, made sharp comments on the history and complexities of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Originally, when the decision to create the State of Israel was made, there was at the same time a parallel decision to establish a second state. It was initially about the creation of two independent and sovereign states—Israel and Palestine,” TASS quoted Putin as saying. “As we know, Israel was established indeed, whereas Palestine has never been founded as an independent and sovereign state,” Putin emphasized, saying that it was “due to a variety of circumstances.” He added that Israel has used military force to occupy Palestinian lands.
Putin said that the Palestinian problem has continued to fester for decades, and “is very near to the heart of everyone who practices Islam.... This is where life has led; these are obvious things. And people view all this – not only what is taking place now but what has occurred for decades – as a manifestation of the injustice that has ramped up dramatically. Why? Because initially, when a decision was adopted on creating the state of Israel, a parallel decision was made on creating a second state.”
Clearly recognizing that there must be a calm and thoughtful approach to resolving this conflict, Putin said: “We understand that the bitterness is immense on both sides, but regardless of its levels, every effort should be made to minimize or reduce to zero the losses among civilians…. We do not know whether the situation will calm down anytime soon, but every effort must be made to this end because expansion of the conflict zone could have drastic effects, including for the energy sector.”
