Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has called for a speedy solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Kremlin press service said on Saturday.
"As a permanent member of United Nations Security Council and a member of the Middle East Quartet of [international] mediators, [we] will continue to contribute to the resumption of the dialogue between the sides on the basis of certain UN resolutions, Madrid principles, and also Arab peace initiative," Medvedev said in his message to Arab leaders, who gathered in Libya for the annual Arab League summit earlier in the day.
"In the framework of this effort, a ministerial meeting of the "quartet" took place in Moscow on March 19. We note with pleasure that a whole host of regulations, crucial to the resumption of Arab-Israeli talks, were established after the meeting."
Medvedev said he was looking forward to the "implementation of plans to hold an international conference on the Middle East in Russia's capital" after a full resumption of the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.
He expressed hope that Arab countries would help Russia create conditions for staging the conference.
Hopes for a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict were dealt a serious blow by Israel's recent decision to build 1,600 houses for Jewish families in East Jerusalem, considered occupied territory under international law. East Jerusalem is also claimed by the Palestinians as the capital of their future state.
Under the internationally agreed roadmap for Middle East peace, Israel is obliged to freeze all settlement construction activity and remove unauthorized outposts built since 2001 from Palestinian territories.
MOSCOW, March 27 (RIA Novosti)
