Moscow says Trump's Golan Heights statement may escalate Middle East tensions

MOSCOW, March 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, seized by Israel from Syria, may escalate tensions in the Middle East, Russian authorities said Friday.

"Such statements, and not only this, but numerous statements made irresponsibly, in our opinion, can really have a negative impact," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"Indeed, they can destabilize (the situation) even more," she told Russia-24 TV channel over the phone.

On Thursday, Trump tweeted that it was time for the United States to fully recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, "which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and regional stability."

"These statements are in line with the policy of the current U.S. administration, which seeks to revise the generally accepted international legal framework for settling the situation in the Middle East," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Russia's position on this issue that the Golan Heights are Syrian territory remains unchanged, the ministry said.

Israel seized the land in a war in 1967 and annexed it unilaterally in 1981, but the international community never recognized the move.

The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution in December 1981 declaring the Israeli decision null and void.

So, changing the status of the Golan Heights is a direct violation of the resolution of the United Nations, Zakharova said.

In a separate development, the Kremlin also expressed concern that Trump's statement may considerably destabilize the already strained situation in the Middle East.

"In any case, such ideas by no means contribute to the implementation of the tasks and reaching the goals of the Middle East settlement, but they do quite the reverse," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

He also wished the statement would remain just a proposal and not be underpinned by actual deeds.