ST. PETERSBURG. June 5 (Interfax) - The events happening in the Gaza Strip in retaliation to the terrorist attack in Israel are destruction of civilian population, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"Of course, we are against terrorist in all its manifestations, against attacks against civilians, in any place and in any country, but what is now happening in Gaza in retaliation to the well-known terrorist attack in Israel still doesn't very much look like a war. It's some total destruction of civilian population," Putin said at a meeting with the editors-in-chief of foreign news agencies.
Russia is hoping for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's contribution to Palestinian-Israeli settlement.
'We know that President Erdogan is making energetic efforts to solve this very acute and quite old problem. Bearing in mind the authority of President Erdogan in the region and in the world, and in the Islamic world, we do hope his contribution will be noticeable," Putin said.
Russian is ready to do everything to solve this situation, he said. "Also bearing in mind our relations with the state of Israel, which developed in the past ten years," the president said.
Speaking about the conflict in Gaza, the president said, "We believe it is a result of the policies of the United States, which has monopolized Israeli-Palestinian settlement, has put off all instruments that we previously created for collective attempts to settle this complex issue."
Av iz