American President George Bush on Saturday blamed Hizbullah alone for the escalating violence in the Middle East, putting himself at odds with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was more critical of Israel. At a joint news conference in Russia, Bush and Putin displayed their divide on the situation.
"In my judgment, the best way to stop the violence is to understand why the violence occurred in the first place," Bush said, according to the AP. "And that's because Hizbullah has been launching rocket attacks out of Lebanon into Israel and because Hizbullah captured two Israeli soldiers."
Putin said it was unacceptable that Hizbullah was trying to reach its goals with abductions and strikes against an independent state. "In this context we consider Israel's concerns to be justified," he stated. However, he noted, "the use of force should be balanced."
"The best way to stop the violence is for Hizbullah to lay down its arms and to stop attacking," Bush said. "And therefore, I call on Syria to exert influence over Hizbullah."
