Military

Russia keeps to its plan to hold Moscow Mideast conference

RIA Novosti

22/12/200913:59

SUWEIMA, Jordan (RIA Novosti) - Russia has not given up the idea of holding a Middle East peace conference in Moscow and hopes that favorable conditions will aid in its convocation, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov said on Tuesday.

Speaking at an international conference "Middle East 2020: Is a Comprehensive Settlement Possible?" in Jordan, Saltanov said that proposals being prepared by the Middle East negotiating quartet - the UN, the EU, Russia and the U.S. - to reset the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations would facilitate the convocation of the conference.

"We expect that after some steps, which are currently being devised by us and our American partners, other Quartet partners, will open possibilities for the restart of the Palestinian-Israeli dialogue, and correspondingly, create favorable conditions for the convocation of the Middle East conference," Saltanov said.

Russia's Middle East initiative envisages the holding of high-level talks to support the Palestinian-Israeli peace process and, possibly resume other tracks, including Syrian and Lebanese, in the Mideast settlement.

Saltanov said Moscow has pinned hopes on the conference's productivity "to help really push the Mideast settlement process towards achieving comprehensive agreements on peace, stability and security."