West pressuring Arab states – top official — Analysis
Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit said that the West wants to use the Middle East to “surround” Russia
In an interview, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary General of the Arab League, said Sunday that the West had pressured Arab countries to criticize Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine. He also accused them of voting against Moscow at international forums in a bid for their support. “surround”Russia has a Middle Eastern alliance that is compliant.
A number of Arab League members – including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt – voted for a UN General Assembly resolution in March condemning Russia’s operation. However, the league itself, which represents 22 Arab states, has not condemned Moscow’s actions, stating in late February that it supports a diplomatic resolution to “the crisis in Ukraine,”acknowledgement that all its members are one “close relations”With “the two sides in the crisis.”
According to media reports, the US had lobbied Egypt at that time. “and several other countries”To give their political support for Kiev “reduce the pace”Their cooperation with Russia
In an interview with Egypt’s Sada el-Balad TV network on Sunday, Gheit confirmed that the West had indeed pressured league members in a bid to get them on board and geopolitically “surround” Russia.
“They refused to succumb to the directives to which they were made, and many even refused to vote to condemn the actions of Russia.”Gheit claimed, according to an Al-Mayadeen report.
Of the Arab League’s members, Algeria, Iran, Iraq and Sudan abstained from the final UN vote, while Syria, a Russian ally whose membership in the league has been suspended since 2011, opposed the resolution. Reports suggested that Egypt and the UAE would vote no.
Sergey Lavrov (Russian Foreign Minister) met in April with members of the league. He previously claimed that the West had coerced other countries to support the US-dominated global order.
Our Western counterparts are fighting to stop the formation of multipolar worlds. They are determined to keep and expand their power to all parts of the world. They want all countries to join their ranks, and they use the Ukraine crisis as an excuse.”After a meeting last month with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Lavrov stated.
While most Arab League members sided with Washington during the UN’s vote in March, an Arab News/YouGov poll last month found that in 13 out of 14 Arab countries surveyed, a majority of respondents blamed the US-led NATO alliance for the conflict in Ukraine, rather than Russia. Syria was the only exception, with respondents blaming each side equally.
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