Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said at their talks in Jerusalem December 23 that they were committed to the peaceful settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of the Road Map plan and spoke for the continuation of regular contacts at the highest level.
"We believe that the positive outcome of these negotiations will have a beneficial effect on the situation in the Middle East. Russia will continue to energetically contribute to this process," Kamynin said.
Russia's foreign ministry said the Jerusalem talks had been the first formal meeting at this level in the past 18 months.
"We give due to the foresight and courage of Olmert and Abbas who, despite the persisting acute problems in bilateral relations, have made this important and, no doubt, positive step towards restarting the Palestinian-Israeli political dialog," Kamynin said.
