Russia To Skip 'Counterproductive' US-Polish Conference On Middle East - Nebenzia

Sumaira FH Published January 23, 2019 | 02:27 AM

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd January, 2019) Russia will not attend a US-organized international conference on middle East security in Warsaw next month, because the gathering will likely be "counterproductive" due to its heavy focus on Iran, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia told the UN Security Council on Tuesday.

"Attempts to create some kind of military alliances in the region, holding different conferences and focusing on having a simplified unilateral approach to the region that is clearly linked just to Iran, is counterproductive," Nebenzia said.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier this month unveiled the plans to hold a ministerial-level summit on Middle East security in Warsaw, Poland, saying the gathering would seek to counter Iran's "destabilizing influence" in the region.

Nebenzia said the intense focus on Iran would prevent participants from addressing the real roots of insecurity in the region, particularly in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, adding that Moscow would persist in its own efforts to foster peace.

"Russia will continue to work to revive the positive dynamic in the Israeli-Palestinian dossier," he said. "We will continue to make efforts to promote the rebuilding of unity within the Palestinian ranks ... in order to end the division and to reunify the West Bank and the Gaza Strip."

Nebenzia also underlined the need to design a "genuine security architecture" for the Middle East.

He also emphasized that the effort to stabilize the Middle East would require that all countries protect the sovereignty of Syria.

"We need to refrain from violating the sovereignty of Syria and engage in a joint effort to find a political solution," the ambassador said.

Both the United States and Russia have deployed military forces to Syria, but Moscow has done so at the request of the Syrian government, while the US is conducting military operations in the country without the consent of Damascus.�