MOSCOW, July 22 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow supports U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's idea to hold an international conference on the Middle East, the Russian Foreign Ministry told journalists Friday.
"The idea voiced by the U.S. State Secretary is consonant to the initiative advanced by Russian President Vladimir Putind during his April tour of the Middle East, when he said prospects for political settlement in the region should be outlined after Israel's withdrawal from Gaza," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said.
According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Rice spoke in favor of an international conference on the Middle East when she was in Israel.
Yakovenko said the conference should involve the Middle East Quartet (Russia, the United States, the UN and the EU), Israel, Palestine and others. The conference would be able to assess the new regional realities after Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank territory.
Yakovenko said this would outline ways of further progress in the Middle East settlement, primarily via the Road Map.
