Rusia Opposes Israel’s Plan to Annex West Bank

Ramallah, MINA – The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Palestine Riyad Al-Maliki commended on Tuesday the Russian position in opposition of Israel’s illegal annexation plan.

It came after Al-Maliki received a letter from his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Russia’s opposition to any unilateral move that might be taken by Israeli government to apply Israeli sovereignty over, or in other words to annex, the Jordan Valley and the illegal colonial settlements in the occupied West Bank, thus quoted from WAFA on Wednesday, April 29.

Russia stressed in the letter, which was delivered by Russian ambassador to Palestine Gocha Buachidze, that any such move would constitute a violation of the principals of the international law and legitimacy.

“The implementation of this plan prevents the establishment of a geographically contiguous Palestinian state,” said Lavrov in his letter.

He also called for speeding up the revival of direct Palestinian-Israeli talks in order to reach mutually-agreed solutions to all final-status issues.

He affirmed his country’s principled position calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Meanwhile, Al-Maliki stressed the need for the international community to act immediately to prevent Israel from taking the step of annexation, and urge the US to halt its support for this step.

The two diplomats also discussed mechanisms for confronting the ongoing coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of cooperation in this field, and the Russian Federation’s willingness to provide support to Palestine to confront the pandemic. (R/R6/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)