President Putin Says BRICS Could Help Achieve Political Resolution Of Gaza Conflict

President Vladimir Putin. (TAS/Sergei Bobylev via Kremlin)

JAKARTA - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called for a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying regional countries and members of the BRICS state group could be involved in efforts to achieve the settlement.

In comments broadcast on television at a virtual BRICS summit, President Putin once again blamed the Middle East crisis for the failure of US diplomacy in the region.

"We call for joint efforts by the international community aimed at easing the situation, ceasefire, and finding political solutions to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. And the BRICS countries and countries in the region can play a key role in this endeavor," President Putin said. November 21.

However, President Putin did not specify how the effort could be organized.

BRICS consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The alliance agreed to expand its membership by adding Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina, and the United Arab Emirates as members last August.

In previous comments, President Putin repeatedly attacked US policy, urging Israel to exercise restraint and express sympathy for the suffering of the Palestinian people.

Last month, he warned Israel not to carry out sieges against Gaza in the same way Nazi Germany did when it surrounded Leningrad during the Second World War, saying ground attacks there would cause a number of civilian casualties that were "completely unacceptable".

On Tuesday he said the large number of children killed in Gaza was dire, adding to the view of operations carried out on children without anesthesia "generating special feelings".

"Due to sabotage of UN decisions, which clearly regulate the formation and peaceful coexistence between two independent and sovereign countries, Israel and Palestine, more than a generation of Palestinians grew up in an atmosphere of injustice to their people, and Israel cannot fully guarantee the security of its country," President Putin said.

Separately, Russian and Western policy experts say the Kremlin leader is trying to take advantage of the Gaza crisis for its geopolitical gains, as part of a strategy to establish ties with allies in developing countries and build what he calls a new world order to fight US dominance.