At the initiative of the Palestinian side, a multilateral teleconference on the Middle East settlement was held. Participants included Sergey Vershinin, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation; Susannah Terstal, EU Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process; Nikolay Mladenov, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process; and Saib Oreikat, Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and member of the Fatah Central Committee.
According to the press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the current situation in Palestinian-Israeli relations has been considered in detail.
"The importance of restarting direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations without preconditions under international auspices in order to develop a just and lasting Middle East settlement was emphasized. General concern was expressed about Israel's plans to annex part of the West Bank, which contradicts the main elements of the universally recognized international legal framework of the MSE, fixed in the resolutions of the UN Security Council and the UNGA and the Arab Peace Initiative, and actually puts an end to the prospect of establishing a viable, territorially continuous Palestinian state," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
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