MOSCOW, March 11 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit Syria, Israel and the Palestinian territories on March 19-21 to discuss holding a Mideast meeting in Moscow, a ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.
Mikhail Kamynin said in a statement that the issue of a Middle East meeting was being discussed with the Palestinians, the Israelis, and countries involved in mediating the conflict, as well as with members of the Arab League.
"Many of our partners confirm they are interested in holding an international Middle East meeting in Moscow," he said, adding that the event was being arranged "to stop setbacks in the peace process, and give the sides a chance to deliver their Annapolis commitments."
Kamynin said the Middle East is seeing increased violence between the Palestinians and the Israelis and an "acute humanitarian crisis" in the Gaza Strip.
He said the agenda for the upcoming meeting would include Palestinian and Israeli relations, finding solutions for the Gaza humanitarian crisis, measures to counter violence and resuming the peace negotiations.
Kamynin said Lavrov would attend a meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in the capital of Senegal, Dakar, on March 13-14.
"For Russia - a country with a significant Islamic population - the development of friendly relations and cooperation with the Islamic world is a strategic policy," he said, adding the relations were "focused on international peace and security, political conflict settlement and the war on international terrorism."
The latest reports quoted Lavrov as saying that Russia would hold an international conference on the Middle East in Moscow only if all the parties involved were ready for such a meeting.
"My trip to the Middle East next week will make it clear finally who is ready for a meeting and who is not," Lavrov told the press in Paris on Tuesday after a session of the Russian-French council on the Middle East situation.
"If all the parties are ready for that, we will hold such a meeting," the Russian foreign minister said, adding that all the Quartet countries - Russia, the United States, the EU and the UN, primarily Washington - had already shown an interest.
