Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman will meet in Moscow next week to discuss the situation in the Middle East and ways to strengthen bilateral relations.
“We give special attention to the talks with the Israeli foreign ministers on the situation in the Middle East, which a mater of serious concern to us,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said.
“The absence of progress in the Palestinian-Israeli talks contributes to regional tensions and hinders the creation of conditions for normal and safe development of the states and peoples in the region. We are convinced that this deadlock can be broken and the situation can be normalised only by joint efforts of all parties interested in the settlement and by resuming negotiations on the strong basis of international law,” he said.
Moscow believes it important that “the movement to peace in the Middle East should be comprehensive and also embrace the Syrian-Israeli and the Lebanese-Israeli tracks”, Nesterenko said.
“The ministers will discuss the preparation, and holding before the end of this year, of an international conference on the Middle East,” he said.
“This will be the first visit by a high-ranking Israeli official to Russia after the appointment of a new government led by Benjamin Netanyahu in April of this year,” the spokesman said.
“The upcoming contacts provide a good opportunity to confirm the continuity of the policy of constructive interaction between the two countries in the interests of strengthening Russian-Israeli relations and resuming the peace process in the Middle East,” he said.
Russia “is interested in increasing the efficiency of the joint inter-governmental commission on trade and economic cooperation … there is the understanding that once its Israeli co-chairman is appointed, it is necessary to start preparing its 7th meeting”, Nesterenko said.
“Among important areas for joint work we consider countering attempts to falsify history, specifically to deny the tragedy of the Holocaust and belittle the decisive contribution of our country to the victory of fascism,” he said.
