Israel-Gaza conflict shows US Middle East policy 'failure': Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the Israel-Gaza conflict showed the "failure" of Washington's Middle East policy and called the creation of "an independent sovereign Palestinian state" a "necessity".

The Russian leader made the comments while meeting Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al Sudani in Moscow on Tuesday, days after Hamas launched a massive military operation against Israel.

"I think many people would agree with me that it's a clear example of the failure of US politics in the Middle East," Putin said.

He spoke of the "necessity to implement the decisions of the UN Security Council on the creation of an independent sovereign Palestinian state."

Putin said the US had "tried to monopolise regulating (the conflict) but, unfortunately, were not preoccupied with looking for compromises that would be acceptable for both sides."

'Most reliable' solution

The West had "not taken into account the fundamental interests of the Palestinian people," he said.

A day earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the creation of a Palestinian state was the "most reliable" solution for peace in Israel.

The Kremlin said earlier on Tuesday that a visit by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, planned before the Hamas operation against Israel, to Moscow, was in preparation but did not give a date.

Moscow has said it was concerned that a foreign player could enter the conflict after the US moved warships closer to its ally Israel.