US President Donald Trump said that he appreciates the positions of Russia and China in the vote in the UN Security Council on a resolution in support of his peace plan for the Gaza Strip.
“China, which was against, abstained and did not vote against. Russia, which was against, did not vote against. We appreciate that. One vote against and this would not have happened“, he said during a gala dinner in honor of the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Washington.
On November 18, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the US resolution adopted by the UN Security Council to resolve the conflict in Gaza contradicts international legal decisions on the creation of the State of Palestine. The ministry noted that the document is incompatible with the decisions to establish an “independent and territorially contiguous State of Palestine within the 1967 borders, with its capital in East Jerusalem, living side by side with Israel“.
A day earlier, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution supporting the US plan for a peace settlement in Gaza. Thirteen of the 15 Security Council members voted “in favor“, with Russia and China abstaining. The draft envisages the creation of a temporary “peace council“ in Gaza and the deployment of an international stabilization force with a two-year mandate. The document does not mention a two-state solution, and Palestinian statehood is seen as a distant prospect. Trump's 20-point plan excludes Hamas from governing the Gaza Strip.