Russia's Foreign Ministry announced Sunday that it will support a United Nations Security Council draft resolution on the establishment of a Palestinian state, RIA Novosti reported.
"We think that the Palestinian case is fair, meaning that people have a right to self-determination, up to establishing their state," Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Sunday, speaking in Cairo at a conference on the reconstruction of Gaza. "There needs to be a political settlement and negotiations. These need to be conducted on the clear basis of international law because everyone seems to agree on the two-state solution — the creation of a Palestinian state that must live in peace and security with all of its neighbors."
Bogdanov, who also serves as President Vladimir Putin's special representative on the Middle East, added that Russia would help Palestinians rebuild the Gaza Strip as quickly and effectively as possible after this summer's 50-day conflict between Hamas and Israeli forces.
Palestine's draft resolution, which has yet to be submitted to the UN Security Council, calls for an end to what it describes as the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and East Jerusalem by November 2016.
In 2012, the UN General Assembly made Palestine a "non-member observer state" and by September 2013, the Palestinian State had been recognized by 134 UN members, including Russia. The majority of Western countries do not recognize Palestine as an independent nation.
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