Russia recognises West Jerusalem as capital of Israel

Russia has recognised West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, becoming the first major country to publicly announce that it considers any part of the city to be the Jewish state’s seat of government.

In a statement released by the Russian foreign ministry on Thursday, as initially reported by the Jerusalem Post, the country said that it reaffirmed its commitment “to the UN-approved principles for a Palestinian-Israeli settlement, which include the status of East Jerusalem as the capital of the future Palestinian state.

“At the same time, we must state that in this context we view West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”

As reported by the Post, the Russian government intends to recognise West Jerusalem in this way immediately, rather than waiting until East Jerusalem becomes the capital of any future Palestinian state. However, there are no plans to move the Russian embassy from Tel Aviv at this time.