MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin warned on Tuesday that Israeli strikes on Lebanon had the potential to completely destabilise the Middle East and widen the conflict there.
Israel struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and the Iran-backed group attacked military facilities in northern Israel on Tuesday, increasing fears of a full-blown conflict after Lebanon suffered its deadliest day in decades.
When asked about the Israeli strikes, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call:
“This is an event that is potentially extremely dangerous when it comes to the expansion of the conflict, to the complete destabilisation of the region. Of course, this is of extreme concern to us.”
Russia has deepened ties with Hezbollah patron Iran since the start of its war in Ukraine, something it calls a special military operation, and questioned the proportionality of Israel’s bombing of Gaza and the number of civilians killed, straining ties with Israel.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Felix Light; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
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