Russia's Foreign Ministry released an official statement Thursday denying the Israel Hayom report that Moscow threatened to veto a US-led draft resolution in 2016 that would have endorsed the creation of a Palestinian state.
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Israel Hayom reported earlier this week that one month before leaving office, US President Barack Obama began working on a United Nations Security Council resolution that would have forced Israel to agree to a Palestinian state based on the 1948 borders. After Israel asked Russia to veto the resolution, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed, according to the Israel Hayom report.
At the time, the US administration denied the Israeli claim that another resolution, in addition to UNSCR 2334 that declared Israeli settlements illegal, was going to be brought before the UN Security Council.
Nevertheless, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again sought help from Russian President Putin to prevent another resolution. In another phone conversation, he explained to Putin that Obama's new resolution would do serious harm to Israel and could destabilize the region.
Putin was convinced and told Netanyahu that if the resolution came to a vote, Russia would veto it, according to the report.
The report further said that Netanyahu said in a closed meeting that Obama was informed of Russia's intention to veto the American move and realized that if Russia vetoed a US resolution in order to protect Israel, it would be a fatal blow to the US's image as an ally of Israel and its standing in the Jewish community. Therefore, Obama decided to shelve the resolution, Netanyahu said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry's denial of this reporting on Thursday was unequivocal: "In connection with the publication on June 15 of an article in the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom containing absurd allegations that in 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin allegedly promised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to use the veto power in the UN Security Council ... [this] version is an absolute fantasy."
In its denial of the reporting in question, the Russian Foreign Ministry went so far as to remind the public that "long before the events described, already in 1988 [we] recognized the State of Palestine within these borders, including East Jerusalem."
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