Russia blasts US ‘double standard’ on recognizing Golan Heights as part of Israel

Russia’s foreign minister questioned America’s ‘double standard’ regarding Israel’s ‘occupation’ of the Golan Heights.

By World Israel News Staff

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the U.S. of a double standard for recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, while refusing to do the same for Russian-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine.

Speaking with reporters at the United Nations on Saturday, Lavrov said that a region of eastern Ukraine known as Donbas, which was captured by Russia following the its invasion of neighboring Ukraine on February 24, 2022, was critical to Russia’s security.

This comes after U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, affirmed Biden’s support for the Trump administration’s recognition of the Golan Heights as part of Israel – and not “occupied territory” as has been claimed in the past.

Referring to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Thomas-Greenfield stated that the sovereignty of member states of the UN must be complied with.

During his press briefing Saturday, Lavrov questioned America’s “double standard” when it came to the Golan Heights, which was liberated by Israel during the Six Day War in 1967.

“As long as Zelensky is in power in Ukraine, as long as NATO is present in Ukraine, militia groups backed by NATO, the Zelensky regime itself – all of these pose a significant security threat to Russia, and as a practical matter, the control of the Donbas in that situation, I think, remains of real importance to Russia’s security. Legal questions are something else. And over time, if the situation were to change in Ukraine, that’s something we’d look at. But we are nowhere near that,” he was quoted as saying.

In April of 2022, Lavrov caused an uproar after saying that Hitler had Jewish blood and at the beginning of this year, the Russian diplomat formally called for the creation of a Palestinian state during an official visit to Iraq to shore up support for President Vladimir Putin’s regime.

“We will continue close contacts with our colleagues, including on the consideration of acute, longstanding, decades-unresolved problems in this region,” Lavrov declared at a press conference in Baghdad.

“Of course, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the task of creating a Palestinian state is one of our key priorities,” Lavrov emphasized. “We are glad that the League of Arab States has not forgotten about this conflict.”

Much of Lavrov’s address consisted of barbs against the U.S. and NATO, claiming that the West “has been preparing for a hybrid war against the Russian Federation for many years.”

Russia has periodically called for the establishment of a Palestinian state over the last 12 months in a bid to undermine the U.S. and its NATO allies for alleged double standards in their backing of Ukraine. The Palestinian Authority (PA) has responded in kind, with PA President Mahmoud Abbas stating at a summit in Kazakhstan last October that “Russia stands for justice, for international law.”

Lavrov’s main business in Baghdad centered on discussions with Iraqi government officials over its unpaid bills to Russian energy companies. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told reporters that he planned to visit Washington, DC, to discuss the issue, saying that “sanctions should not be imposed on Iraq because its cooperation continues with Russian companies.”

Donald TrumpGolan HeightsJoe BidenRussia UkraineSergei LavrovU.N.