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Russia, Egypt FMs discuss Middle East settlement

01 October 2010 04:11 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Egyptian counterpart Aboul Gheit discussed over telephone the Middle East settlement given the complicated situations in the Palestinian-Israeli talks on Thursday, APA reports quoting Xinhua News Agency.

According to a statement published on the Russian foreign ministry website, the two top diplomats "expressed profound concern about Israel’s refusal to extend the moratorium on the settlement activities in the occupied West Bank."

They also exchanged views on ways to keep the talks going. Gheit told Lavrov preparations for the meeting of the Arab League’ s peace committee and of the Arab Leagues’ emergency summit, said the statement.

Direct negotiations between Israel and Palestine restarted under the auspices of the U.S. early in September. However, Israel ’s decision not to renew the moratorium on expanding its settlements that expired at midnight on Sunday has put the future of the talks in jeopardy.

Both officials welcomed the recent consensus reached in Damascus between Fatah and Hamas leaders, while voicing hope that both sides could bridge over remaining differences as soon as possible.