"We intend to intensify our efforts in settling the conflict," he said in his interview with Egypt's Al-Ahram newspaper.
Sergei Lavrov pointed out that Russia has consistently supported the need for collective and well-coordinated efforts aimed at identifying effective ways to a lasting peace in the Middle East. "In pursuit of this policy we do not try to conceal our political, economical, commercial, cultural and historical interests in the region," he pointed out.
The four international mediators - Russia, the U.S., EU and UN, - provide the most effective format for development of a fair Mideast settlement. "Moscow plays an active and very constructive role in the quartet. It is important that Russia does not pursue enforcement of own schemes and devices but has been consistently ensuring implementation of consensus-based decisions adopted by the world community, including the parties involved in the conflict," the Minister said.
He referred to the road map of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement as a good example of the above approach which, at Russia's initiative, was approved by a resolution of the UN Security Council and has now become a part of the international law. The road map turned out to be a vital contribution to the decisions made at the ministerial-level meeting of the quartet in New York and at the recent G8 summit on Sea Island. These decisions did not only confirm validity of the international legal documents developed for settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict but also contained a clear assessment of steps similar to Ariel Sharon's initiative encouraging unilateral delimitation of land, Lavrov pointed out.
"It has been clearly stated that Israel's withdrawal from Gaza is not the end but the beginning of the process developing in the context of the road map plan," the Russian Foreign Minister stressed. "There is a lot to do in this area yet. Liberation of the occupied Palestinian territories must be carried out in a well-organized manner properly coordinated with the Palestinian population and take due account of the social and political interests of the Gaza Strip."
Russia together with other members of the quartet is going to actively promote this process.
