MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said that calls to impose a blockade of Gaza similar to Nazi Germany’s siege of Leningrad during World War Two were unacceptable and called for mediation to save civilian lives.
“Israel has faced such an unprecedented attack,” Putin said. “But despite all the bitterness on both sides, I still think that we need to think about the civilian population.”
He said there had been calls even in the United States for a blockade of Gaza on a par with “the siege of Leningrad during World War II” and that such calls were unacceptable.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
