Russia urges resumption of Israel-Palestine talks

Moscow, Feb 17 (UNI) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has urged Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to reach an agreement on the resumption of conflict settlement talks during their meeting, next Monday.

''We expect the meeting to result in an agreement on the resumption of talks to define the framework for the final resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,'' Mr Lavrov told mediapersons.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has proposed to bring President Abbas and Prime Minister Olmert together for a three-way meeting on February 19.

Mr Lavrov said Moscow highly valued Ms Rice's efforts in the resolution of the issue, adding that the earlier agreement between the Palestinian President-led Fatah and the Islamic group Hamas, in Mecca, augured well for the Monday meeting.

''This is a breakthrough decision, which adheres to criteria coordinated within the Quartet framework and it is very important to support it and help Palestinians carry on with the agreement that has been reached,'' he said.

The agreement in Mecca was also discussed during President Abbas' meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week in Amman (Jordan).

President Putin told Mr Abbas that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict could be resolved by observing the Mecca agreement and by returning an Israeli soldier captured by the Palestinians in June to exchange him for Palestinian prisoners in Israel. Hamas was one of the groups that claimed responsibility for the seizure.

''The agreement reached in Mecca must be observed inside the PNA as a precondition for further steps toward resolving the conflict with Israel,'' President Putin said.

UNI