RUSSIA NOTIFIES INTERNATIONAL COURT ON ITS POSITION ON SECURITY FENCE

MOSCOW, February 5 (RIA Novosti correspondent Dmitry Panovkin) - As a permanent UN Security Council's member and a co-sponsor of the Middle East peace process, Russia has forwarded a written statement to the Hague International Court on its position in regard to the Israeli security fence on Palestinian territories. According to Russian foreign ministry official spokesman Alexander Yakovenko, the statement points to the negative effect of this Israeli initiative on the political settlement.

No matter what the Court decides, it is important that it does not further complicate the Middle East normalization, the statement runs.

"We are convinced that bilateral talks between Israel and Palestine aimed to restart the implementation of the road map are the only effective means of peaceful and fair settlement of the conflict," said the Russian foreign ministry spokesman.

He described the construction of the security fence as "a counterproductive move undermining the settlement efforts." Last December, the Hague International Court suggested that all the UN member states express their opinions in a written form on the legal consequences of the security fence consideration by the court. Hearings on the issue are scheduled for February 23rd.