Manama: Kuwait has dismissed reports about US dissatisfaction with its stances at the United Nations Security Council regarding Palestinian issues.
A spokesperson at the Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that “the two countries are bound by deep relations and have strategic partnership on all levels as well as on-going consultations within the framework of the United Nations Security Council.”
A report published by Kuwaiti daily Al Rai on Wednesday said that Kuwait’s Ambassador to the US Shaikh Salem Abdullah Al Jaber Al Sabah and US President’s Advisor Jared Kushner recently had a “brief and stormy” meeting.
Kushner reportedly conveyed the US Administration annoyance with the Kuwait’s position in the Security Council towards solutions to the crisis in the occupied Palestinian territories.
According to the daily, Kushner said that the Kuwaiti behaviour in the Security Council embarrassed him personally in front of the Administration officials and countries that support US efforts to resolve the crisis.
However, the Kuwaiti spokesperson, responding to a query by Kuwait News Agency regarding the report, insisted that “the ties between the two sides are deep-rooted.”
“The spokesperson quashed the report and commended the ambassador’s role in promoting relations between the two countries, noting that there have been solid bonds between him and the US Administration’s officials,” the official news agency reported on Wednesday.
“He also stressed that there is mutual respect between the two sides in line with the two countries’ strategic coalition frameworks.”
Last week, Kuwaiti, a Security Council non-permanent member representing the Arab countries since January 1, drafted a resolution that condemned Israel’s use of force against Palestinian civilians.
The draft was supported by Kuwait, France, Russia, China, Ivory Coast, Kazakhstan, Bolivia, Peru, Sweden, and Equatorial Guinea. Britain, the Netherlands, Poland and Ethiopia abstained. Only the United States voted against.
However, it was vetoed by the US.
A US-drafted resolution that blamed Hamas for the violence and upheld Israel’s right to defend itself was supported only by the US. . Three countries voted against it and the other 11 countries abstained.
More than 110 Palestinians have been killed since March 30 in protests at Gaza borders.