26 Jan 2021 19:33

Lavrov proposes ministerial meeting on Mideast settlement involving Israel, Palestine

MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) - Russia has suggested holding a multilateral ministerial meeting on the Middle East settlement involving Israel, Palestine, and Arab countries in spring or summer 2021, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

"We propose considering the holding of a ministerial meeting involving Russia, the United States, the United Nations, and the European Union as the [Middle East] Quartet members, as well as four Arab countries, namely, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, and certainly Israel and Palestine in spring or summer of 2021," Lavrov said at a UN Security Council session dedicated to the Middle East peace process.

"It would also be important to invite Saudi Arabia as the author of the Arab Peace Initiative," he added.

Such meeting could become "a working platform for a comprehensive study of the situation and the assistance to the parties to establish dialogue," the minister said.