MOSCOW, July 13 (RIA Novosti) - Israelis and Palestinians do not need any outside help to end their conflict, which will be resolved only if the two sides are left alone, a Russian expert on the Middle East said on Monday.
"There is only one way for the conflict to be resolved - it will be settled, when they [the conflicting parties] are left alone. Only then a balance of relations between the conflicting parties will be established," Yevgeny Satanovsky, the president of the Institute of Middle East Studies, said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
Speaking at a lecture in London, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said that if the Israeli and Palestinian governments fail to reach an agreement by a certain deadline the UN should embrace the two-state solution and "accept the Palestinian state as a full member of the UN."
Satanovsky said Solana made the controversial proposal since he understands that he will be stepping down soon and must leave something behind for others to remember him.
"Xavier Solana's statement is colorful because he is resigning and he wants to be remembered for something, moreover, as he has done nothing anywhere. This is a colorful PR statement that has nothing to do with the European Union as he says - the EU asks the UN and the UN does it. It is a dangerous precedent," Satanovsky said.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry on Monday dismissed Solana's proposal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday urged the Palestinian leadership to return to the negotiating table.
The call, however, was rejected by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who said negotiations would resume only if Israel halts settlement construction in the West Bank. Israel currently has 121 Jewish settlements with a population of about 300,000 in the West Bank.
