Escalation in Israel-Hezbollah fighting is ‘serious cause for concern,’ says Russia’s UN envoy

Russia’s Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia speaks during a press conference upon Russia assuming the role of President of the UN Security Council for the month of July, at the UN headquarters in New York City, US, July 1, 2024. (Reuters)

• Vasily Nebenzia tells Arab News he hopes both sides realize the consequences of their belligerent rhetoric and all-out war can be prevented
• He also laments lack of progress in talks between Moscow and the Taliban on improving women’s rights in Afghanistan

NEW YORK CITY: Russia’s ambassador to the UN on Monday expressed hope that all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah can still be avoided. But for this to happen, he added, both sides need to “demonstrate understanding of the consequences of that potentially dangerous development.”

Vasily Nebenzia told Arab News: “We hear belligerent rhetoric about Lebanon from the Israeli leadership, and also replies from Hezbollah saying that they are ready to resist any attempts to invade Lebanon. This has been going on for some time and that gives us a serious cause of concern.

“That will be not the first but one of the next spillovers of the crisis that in fact originated in Gaza. In fact, it originated decades ago. Now, it has already spread to the region, be it Yemen and the Red Sea, and now Lebanon.

“I sincerely hope, wish, this war could be prevented.”

Nebenzia was speaking at a press conference during which he set out Moscow’s agenda as it assumes the rotating presidency of the Security Council for the month of July.

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the council to discuss Lebanon will take place on July 24. During such meetings the council has for years been discussing the full implementation of Resolution 1701, which it adopted in 2006 with the aim of resolving the war that year between Israel and Hezbollah.

Nebenzia expressed hope that the council will not be forced to have an emergency meeting before then to discuss the present situation along the Blue Line, the demarcation line established by the UN in June 2000 to determine whether Israel had fully withdrawn from Lebanon.

Asked how recent rounds of talks with the Taliban had gone, and in particular whether Moscow had pushed the administration to improve women’s rights in Afghanistan, Nebenzia said the group have their own ideas about the issue and he lamented the lack of progress.

“That’s the reality we are facing with the Taliban and their women and girls’ policies,” he said.

“They justify it by Islamic arguments, which are in fact not Islamic, which many Islamic countries are trying to explain to them, but they would not listen.”