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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION |
Unofficial translation from Russian
Mikhail Kamynin, the Spokesman of Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Answers a Question from RIA Novosti Regarding Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Meeting with PNA Head Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan
1106-22-06-2006
Question: The first meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and PNA Head Mahmoud Abbas took place in Jordan on June 22, according to media reports. Is this a much awaited resumption of the peace process between the Palestinians and Israel?
Answer: An informal meeting between Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas indeed took place in Petra, Jordan, on the fringes of an international conference of Nobel laureates.
The very fact of the meeting should be seen as a positive event, a symbolic step of the parties towards each other. We hope that this contact will open up the prospect of resuming a full-scale political dialogue between the Palestinians and Israelis. In this case both parties should treat responsibly their existing obligations. We expect from Israel the fulfillment of the relevant arrangements, including the agreement on movement and access; renunciation of unilateral actions prejudging the final status of the Palestinian territories; and the cessation of the disproportionate use of force against the civilian population. In their turn, the Palestinians should take effective measures to end rocket attacks and other anti-Israeli terrorist acts, and work out a national platform of dialogue with Israel on the basis of the well-known principles of the Quartet of international mediators. That line, we think, would help create a favorable atmosphere for overcoming the protracted crisis in Palestinian-Israeli relations and restarting movement towards peace and harmony between the parties based on the Roadmap and the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
June 22, 2006
Document Type: Press Release
Country: Israel, Russian Federation
Subject: Peace process, Situation in the OPT including Jerusalem
Publication Date: 22/06/2006