EU, US, Russia in Talks on ‘Restarting’ Middle East Quartet – Mogherini

LUXEMBOURG (Sputnik) — EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Saturday she had been discussing how to revive the stalled dialogue on the Middle East peace process with Russia and the United States, in order to tackle the ongoing migrant crisis.

The Quartet of international mediators, established in 2002, aims at mediating the end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Mogherini said Palestinians had recently been spotted in the flow of refugees seeking asylum in the European Union.

"We have had words together with our partners in the Quartet, namely with the UN, with the US – I was speaking with [US Secretary of State] John Kerry yesterday about this – and with Russia, to prepare a new start, somehow, of the Quartet," Mogherini told reporters after an informal EU meeting on the Western Balkan migration route.

The top EU diplomat stressed it was important to build partnerships in the region to make sure that the Middle East peace process was restarted after more than a year of stalling.

The Quartet’s foreign ministers will meet in late September together with UN chief Ban Ki-moon at the margins of the UN General Assembly to address the migrant crisis. Ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Secretary-General of the Arab League will also be attending.