Russia to facilitate soonest possible start of direct talks between Israel, Palestinians
MOSCOW. May 17 (Interfax) - Russia will facilitate direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"Everything depends on the parties' ability to negotiate and their goodwill. We'll be doing all we can to help them reach agreements, both on calming down the current very dangerous hot phase of the conflict and on starting direct negotiations as soon as possible," Lavrov said at a press conference on Monday.
Russia signaled several years ago that it was willing to arrange direct talks between the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships in Moscow, he said.
"I read an interview with the Israeli ambassador to the Russian Federation several days ago, in which he said Israel always stands ready for direct negotiations between its prime minister and the president of the Palestinian Authority without preconditions," Lavrov said.
"He talked about this publicly, and I'd like to note publicly that an agreement was reached with our assistance exactly about this, about negotiations without preconditions, three or four years ago," he said.
Israeli Ambassador to Russia Alexander Ben Zvi said earlier in an interview with Interfax that Jerusalem would be ready for direct dialogue with the Palestinian side following a ceasefire. Ben Zvi insisted that the Palestinian leadership should seek opportunities for contacts with Israel rather than support from international organizations or foreign countries.