Russia: US hypocritical on Ukraine war, double standard for Israel

The United States was hypocritical in its recognition of the Golan Heights as part of sovereign Israel, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov charged at a press conference held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Saturday.

Lavrov, who compared the Golan Heights to Ukraine's war-torn Donbas, hinted that the US does not take its own vow to "respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all UN member states" seriously.

In his press conference, Lavrov was asked to respond to comments made by the US envoy to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield's vow to protect territorial integrity in the context of the Ukraine-Russia war.

Thomas-Greenfield made a vow to "work to uphold the principles enshrined in the UN Charter, including respect for the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of all member states" in a UNGA press briefing last week. 

She was asked about the status of the Golan Heights following her vow, to which she replied that the US has not changed its recognition of Israel's sovereignty in the region.

Lavrov copies Blinken's statement on Golan Heights

Lavrov first read out a foreign ministry statement on Donbas in English, in which it is stated that "the Donbas is very important to Russia's security. As long as Zelensky is in power, as long as NATO is present in Ukraine...that situation 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 would look at. But we are nowhere near that," Lavrov added.

He then juxtaposed that statement by quoting comments made by Antony Blinken to CNN back in 2021, in which the US secretary of state said that "as a practical matter, the Golan is very important to Israel's security.

"As long as Assad is in power in Syria, as long as Iran is present in Syria, militia groups backed by Iran, the Assad regime itself – all of these pose a significant security threat to Israel, and as a practical matter, the control of the Golan in that situation, I think, remains of real importance to Israel's security. Legal questions are something else."

"In terms of the Palestinian issues, we have resolutions from both the Security Council and the General Assembly and we call on everyone to be guided by these resolutions," Lavrov also said.