"At the current stage we deem it to be a priority to ensure participation of all the political forces of Iraq, including opposition, in the settlement, to hold universal democratic elections on this basis, and to achieve national concord in Iraq. In our opinion, holding an international conference on Iraq with the participation of all its members, the members of the UN Security Council, the League of Arab States and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference would help it," Mr. Lavrov said.
"The Ministerial meeting on Iraq which is scheduled to take place in Egypt at the end of November and in which Russia will take an active part can give a start to this process," Russia's Foreign Minister went on to say.
According to him, in the questions of Iraqi settlement Russia proceeds from the necessity to undeviatingly fulfill resolution 1546 of the UN Security Council and the schedule of the political process, recorded in it," Lavrov said.
He noted that "active participation of the states - parties to the Conference in the international efforts to rehabilitate Afghanistan" is a priority task of the CICA.
Sergei Lavrov also highlighted the importance of resumption of the political dialogue between India and Pakistan.
He also noted that Russia stands for earliest unblocking of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and recommencement of the talks in accordance with the "road map."
According to Russia's Foreign Minister, this document proposes the optimal way to achieve a lasting peace in the region.
The list of the participants in the Almaty Conference includes 16 states - Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Palestine, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan. The USA, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Ukraine are participating in the meeting as observers.
