Russia "absolutely" supports US President Barack Obama's assertion that Israel's 1967 borders must be the basis for negotiations on establishment of a Palestinian state, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday.
In a landmark speech at the State Department last week, Obama said "the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states."
"I told my colleague Barack Obama yesterday that I absolutely agree with his position [on the Palestinian state]," Medvedev said at a press conference at the conclusion of the G8 summit in France.
"It is the only basis for the creation of the [Palestinian] state," he said adding that Israel and the Palestinians bore equal responsibility for resolving their long-running conflict.
Direct talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, which resumed last September after a 20-month standoff, collapsed three weeks later when Israel refused to stop construction in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinians will seek to achieve statehood at a UN vote this September. The State of Palestine has so far been recognized by 112 UN member nations but needs to acquire 135 recognitions, a majority of two-thirds of the 192 UN members.
DEAUVILLE (France), May 27 (RIA Novosti)
