MOSCOW. Sept 26 (Interfax) - Russia will continue its active efforts to help de-escalate the situation around Lebanon, also calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said.
"We, on our part, will continue to make active diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the situation and avert a catastrophic scenario. We stand ready to engage in coordination with international and regional partners for these purposes," the website of Russia's Permanent Mission to the United Nations quoted Vershinin as saying at a UN Security Council meeting addressing the situation in Lebanon.
The escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict sparked all-out Israel-Hezbollah confrontation, the main victims of which are civilians on both sides of the so-called Blue Line, the demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel, he said.
"We resolutely condemn the large-scale military attacks and provocations against Lebanon, which is friendly toward us. [...] Any indiscriminate attacks, the victims of which are civilians, are categorically unacceptable," he said.
"The widening of this spiral of violence must be stopped urgently before the situation spins out of control completely. We call for an immediate cessation of hostilities, a move that would prevent any further bloodshed and would create conditions for restarting to address the situation by political and diplomatic means," Vershinin said.
"The imminent prospect of a large war in the Middle East may be averted only by stopping the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip," he said.
Russia's position in favor of the need to fully and comprehensively abide by UN Security Council Resolution 1701 remains consistent and unchanged, he said. The resolution spells out Israel's obligations to stop all offensive military operations, withdraw its armed forces from southern Lebanon and cease its occupation of Lebanese territories, while Hezbollah must pull all of its units back to the north of the Litani River.
"We express our full support for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, where it has been playing a key stabilizing role along the 'Blue Line'. It is the peacekeepers' presence that reduced the risk of the start of all-out armed confrontation for a long time. We reiterate the need to rigorously ensure the security of the 'blue helmets'," he said.
Hezbollah members' pagers exploded simultaneously in different parts of Lebanon last week. According to CNN, the pager explosions were a joint operation by the intelligence service and the army of Israel. Blasts rocked the outskirts of Beirut and Lebanon's southern districts on September 18. Hezbollah said that walkie-talkies used by its members for communication purposes exploded.
Earlier this week, the Israeli army launched a large-scale operation to carry out strikes on suspected Hezbollah sites in Lebanon. In turn, Hezbollah has continued to fire missiles targeting Israeli territory.