About 425 people are thought to have died in Lebanon since Israel launched a military operation two weeks ago targeting Islamist group Hizbollah's infrastructure in response to two Israeli soldiers' capture. Another 600,000 people have fled the fighting. Over 40 Israelis have also lost their lives.
"We expect the Security Council during its further consideration of the situation around Lebanon to act resolutely to end the bloodshed immediately," the ministry said in a document.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday he was satisfied with the results of the conference on the Middle East conflict in Rome, which, although it failed to fulfill its main objective of stopping violence in the conflict zone, determined guidelines toward a ceasefire, humanitarian aid and deployment of a multinational peacekeeping force in Lebanon.
Moscow also denounced any kind of violence against peacekeepers and welcomed the Security Council's position on UN staff security, which was set out in a July 27 statement on the killing of military observers from Austria, Canada, China and Finland in an Israeli air strike.
