FILE PHOTO: Houses are seen in the landscape in this general view picture of the Israeli settlement of Havat Gilad in the occupied West Bank, June 17, 2019. Havat Gilad is a cluster of homes sprinkled across a hilltop that is surrounded by Palestinian villages deep in the West Bank. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday that a U.S. decision to effectively back Israel’s right to build Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank undermined the legal basis for a settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday abandoned Washington’s four-decade-old position that such settlements were “inconsistent with international law.”

Russia’s Foreign Ministry condemned the change of policy in a statement on Tuesday, warning the move would escalate tensions in the region.

Moscow’s stance is that such settlements on Palestinian territory are illegal under international law, it said.

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