Russia calls for immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas
Russia called on Israel and Hamas to immediately cease fire and show restraint on Saturday, expressing "great concern" after Hamas launched a major offensive against Israel.
"We call on the Palestinian and Israeli sides to immediately cease fire, to renounce violence and show the necessary restraint," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also expressed "the greatest concern about the sudden aggravation of the situation in the area of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict" and stressed that it "cannot be resolved by force, but exclusively through political and diplomatic means."
Earlier on Saturday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, the Kremlin's envoy to the Middle East and Africa, said that Russia is "in contact" with all interested parties, including "Palestinians, Israelis, and Arabs" to urge them to "restraint."
"If we had expected this, we would have prevented it," he added, citing Interfax.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
