Russia calls on all parties to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to refrain from steps that could provoke a new dangerous escalation in the region, the message of the Russian Foreign Ministry, published on the Agency's website, reads.
"We confirm Russia's principled position in support of a comprehensive and sustainable settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on the two-state principle within the existing international legal framework. We call on all parties to refrain from any steps that could provoke a new dangerous escalation in the region and hinder the creation of conditions for the resumption of direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations," the message reads.
Russia, as the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed, "as a member of the Middle East Quartet of international mediators, continues contacts with representatives of the UN, EU and US in order to prepare for a meeting in this format in the near future with the possible involvement of interested Arab countries and the Arab League."
It is noted that the Russian side has repeatedly warned Israeli partners against implementing unilateral plans that contradict the international legal framework for the Middle East settlement, which includes the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and the UN General Assembly, as well as the Arab Peace Initiative. "It is of concern that such expansionist actions by Israel may provoke a dangerous round of violence in the Palestinian territories, as well as destabilize the situation in the Middle East region as a whole," the foreign Ministry explained.
Earlier, the head of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, said that Palestine had decided to terminate all agreements with Israel and the United States against the background of the Israeli government's intentions to annex Palestinian lands.
The Palestinians, as part of the peace settlement process with Israel, which is currently suspended, demand that the future borders between the two sovereign states follow the lines that existed before the six-day war in 1967, with a possible exchange of territories. They hope to establish a state in the West Bank and the Gaza strip, and they want to make East Jerusalem their capital. Israel refuses to return to the borders of 1967, and to share Jerusalem with the Arabs, which has already declared its eternal and indivisible capital.
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