Russia gives cautious welcome to Gaza ceasefire

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MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Kremlin on Thursday welcomed a Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas but said the key would be to see how the deal was implemented.

Israel and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza, a ceasefire and hostage release deal that could be a first step toward ending a two-year-old war that has roiled the Middle East.

“We certainly support these efforts. It cannot but cause general satisfaction that a ceasefire in Gaza is already being established. All these efforts can be welcomed,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by Interfax as saying.

“We hope that the signatures will be delivered today, and then actions will follow to implement the agreements reached,” Peskov said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the situation in the Middle East, including Trump’s plan to end the Gaza conflict in a phone call on Monday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Trump’s plan was “the best solution we have on the table” and “gave hope”, though it mentioned “statehood” in rather vague terms and not in regard to the West Bank.

Lavrov said that the West shared responsibility for stalling United Nations decisions on Palestinian statehood which he said “would come later.”

“Our Western colleagues must also bear their share of responsibility for having played a key role in stalling the implementation of the decisions on creating an independent Palestine on the West Bank and in Gaza,” Lavrov said.

“The Palestinian issue, which remains unresolved for nearly 80 years now, is the main factor fueling extremism in the Middle East.”

(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Mark Trevelyan)