BEIRUT, LEBANON (12:00 P.M.) – Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, called on the United States to stop the arms race in the Middle East, citing the words of the American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968).
Nebenzia said during the meeting of the UN Security Council devoted to cooperation with the Arab League:
“In the memory of Martin Luther King Jr., I would like to recall the words that American colleagues apparently do not like to mention, which is that ‘a nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.'”
He continued, “We must stop the clattering of arms and stop inciting the arms race in the region.”
This came in response to the speech of the American diplomat Rodney Hunter, who criticized the “actions of the Syrian and Iranian regimes” in the region, and cited the words of Martin Luther King Jr. as well, saying that “hatred cannot drive out hatred; only love can do that.”
Nebenzia recalled the Russian initiative on security in the Gulf region, stressing that “this is the call to dialogue in which the Arab League can play an important role, and this is a call for peace in exchange for a call for war,” in reference to American policies.
Source: RT
