MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Thursday that efforts to agree on what it called a balanced U.N. resolution on the Israel-Hamas conflict should continue, but said it was wrong for any such resolution to only condemn one side.
It was commenting a day after Russia and China vetoed a U.S. push for the U.N. Security Council to call for pauses in fighting to allow humanitarian aid access, the protection of civilians and a halt to arming Hamas and other militants in the Gaza Strip.
A rival Russian-drafted text that called for a humanitarian ceasefire and withdrawal of Israel’s order for civilians in Gaza to relocate south ahead of a ground assault failed to attract the minimum number of votes for support too.
“We need to continue our efforts, we need to strive to reach a balanced option. We are convinced that our option was much more balanced,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“We need to call for a ceasefire and we cannot condemn the actions of only one side. The resolution should be balanced and diplomatic efforts should be continued here,” he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Wednesday that Israel’s conflict with Hamas could spread well beyond the Middle East and said it was wrong that innocent women, children and elderly people in Gaza were being punished for other people’s crimes.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Gareth Jones)
