"We expect the meeting to result in an agreement on the resumption of talks to define the framework for the final resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," Sergei Lavrov said.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice intends to bring Abbas and Olmert together for a three-way meeting February 19. The location of the meeting was not clear as of Friday evening.
Lavrov said Moscow values Rice's efforts in the resolution of the issue highly, adding that the earlier agreement between the Palestinian president-led Fatah movement and the Islamist group Hamas augurs well for the Monday meeting.
Fatah and Hamas, which won elections in January 2006, reached an agreement on the structure of a new power-sharing Cabinet at Saudi-sponsored negotiations in Mecca last week. The compromise was designed to avert a civil war and restart a constructive dialogue with Israel.
"This is a breakthrough decision, which adheres to criteria coordinated within the Quartet framework, and it is very important to support it and help Palestinians carry on with the agreement that has been reached," Lavrov said.
The agreement in Mecca was also discussed during Abbas' meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week in Amman, Jordan.
Putin told Abbas that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict could be resolved by observing the Mecca agreement and by returning an Israeli soldier captured by the Palestinians in June to exchange him for Palestinian prisoners in Israel. Hamas was one of the groups that claimed responsibility for the seizure.
"The agreement reached [in Mecca] must be observed inside the PNA as a precondition for further steps toward resolving the conflict with Israel," Putin said.
