(Reuters) -Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in an interview published on Wednesday, said U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan for peace in Gaza may be general in approach, but remains the best proposal “on the table” for now. “U.S. President Donald Trump proposed his 20 points which contain the word ‘statehood.’ But this is all drafted […]
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Russia’s Lavrov: Trump’s Gaza plan is the best one we have
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(Reuters) -Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in an interview published on Wednesday, said U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan for peace in Gaza may be general in approach, but remains the best proposal “on the table” for now.
“U.S. President Donald Trump proposed his 20 points which contain the word ‘statehood.’ But this is all drafted in quite general terms,” Lavrov told Russia Today television in an interview published in part on the Foreign Ministry’s website.
“In this context, at issue is only what will remain of the Gaza Strip. There is no reference to the West Bank. But we are realists. We understand this is the best that there is now ‘on the table’.”
The plan, he said, was “the best option in terms of Arab acceptability and ‘non-rejection’ by Israel, which is how I would characterize Benjamin Netanyahu’s position”.
The Kremlin has expressed support for Trump’s plan since he presented it last week and said it hopes it can be implemented.
Russia has been critical of Israel’s military operations in Gaza over the last two years as Moscow deepens relations with Israel’s arch rival, Iran. Moscow has long said that a two-state solution is the only way to settle the Middle East conflict.
Trump’s plan calls for an international body led by Trump and including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to play a role in Gaza’s post-war administration. Arab countries which back the plan say it must lead to eventual independence for a Palestinian state, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says will never happen.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Alistair Bell)