Russian Foreign Minister's Special Representative for the Middle East Settlement Vladimir Safronkov and US Deputy Secretary of State Hadi Amr discussed by telephone the prospects of cooperation between Moscow and Washington on the track of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement. The two sides expressed mutual interest in constructive cooperation to advance the peace process in the Middle East.
"During the conversation, the prospects of Moscow and Washington's interaction on the Palestinian-Israeli settlement track were discussed, including in the format of the Middle East Quartet of international mediators. The Russian side welcomed the readiness of the United States to resume its full participation in the work of the Quartet, and also spoke in favor of activating bilateral dialogue on the problems of the Middle East settlement," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"On the whole, both sides stated their intention to cooperate constructively in order to promote the peace process in the Middle East," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Earlier, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that the organization was ready to resume preparations for a meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli settlement because conditions were ripe for it with the change of the US administration.
Regular contacts
The Special Representatives of the Middle East Quartet of international mediators (Russia, US, EU, UN) discussed the necessity of direct negotiations between Palestine and Israel during a teleconference and agreed to maintain regular contacts.
"The Russian side stressed the importance of creating the necessary conditions for a speedy resumption of direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations under the auspices of the Quartet in order to resolve fundamental final status issues on a well-known international legal basis, providing for the creation of two states - Palestine and Israel, coexisting in peace and security. At that, the inadmissibility of unilateral steps, be they incitement to violence or expansion of settlement activity, including demolition of Palestinian buildings in the West Bank was emphasized," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. - "The participants agreed to hold their meetings in the Quartet format on a regular basis".
Speaking on January 26 at the UN Security Council open debate on the Middle East settlement, Sergey Lavrov proposed holding a ministerial meeting this spring and summer with the participation of the Quartet of international mediators on the Middle East settlement, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, UAE, Bahrain as well as Saudi Arabia as the author of the Arab peace initiative.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Based on materials from TASS