The Middle East is on the brink of a full-scale war as tensions rise sharply between Israel and Iran, Russian President Vladimir Putin said today according to Reuters.
“The fighting that began a year ago in Gaza has now spread to Lebanon,” Putin, sitting beside Chinese President Xi Jinping, told a meeting of the BRICS+ group in the city of Kazan.
“Other countries in the region were also affected. The degree of confrontation between Israel and Iran has sharply increased. All this resembles a chain reaction and puts the entire Middle East on the brink of a full-scale war.”
“Correcting the historical injustice against the Palestinian people can guarantee peace in the Middle East. Until this issue is resolved, the vicious circle of violence will not be broken. People will continue to live in an atmosphere of permanent crisis, with inevitable relapses of large-scale violence,” he added.
He also said Asia, Africa and Latin America should take up a larger role in the United Nations’ Security Council.
Speaking at the meeting, Xi said China supports more global south countries joining the BRICS grouping.
He called on the group to take the lead in reforming the global economic governance system. The BRICS grew out of meetings between Russia, India and China, who then began to meet more formally, eventually adding Brazil, then South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
READ: Putin says Gaza war must end with establishment of Palestinian State