By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has announced that the next Middle East peace conference would be hosted by Moscow.
Following Tuesday’s talks in Annapolis, Maryland, attended by 44 nations, US President George W. Bush is set to meet the Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the White House Wednesday.
At the end of the one-day talks, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a joint statement and committed themselves to negotiating a peace treaty by the end of next year.
The Russian minister told journalists on his way back home from Annapolis, “I would like to note the efforts of the American organizers of this meeting toward finding the means to ensure that such a document was produced.”
He said the conference participants had welcomed Russia’s offer to host the next Middle East peace meet in Moscow.
“All the participants welcomed our readiness to hold the next meeting in Moscow. Its date and agenda have yet to be coordinated, and will take into account progress at talks between the Palestinians and Israelis,” He said.
In their joint statement, Olmert and Abbas agreed to “immediately launch good-faith bilateral negotiations in order to conclude a peace treaty resolving all outstanding issues, including all core issues without exception, as specified in previous agreements.”
Lavrov said the document requires the parties to start immediate negotiations, which will be based on all previously adopted documents, including UN Security Council resolutions and “roadmap” deals to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and was excluded from the talks, dismissed the conference as a “waste of time”, and said it would ignore any agreements reached there.
Thousands of miles away from the conference, thousands of protesters gathered in the Gaza Strip. In Gaza City’s central square, the crowd chanted slogans: “Down with the devils who have gathered in America,” “Palestine and Jerusalem are not for sale,” “We will never recognize Israel,” and “Our refugees must return home.”
At the Annapolis talks, Abbas reiterated Palestinian demands that Israel remove its settlements in the West Bank and release thousands of Palestinian prisoners.
Arab states have pledged to improve relations with Israel when an independent Palestinian state is formed, with its capital in East Jerusalem, and when Palestinian refugees are brought home.
The Arabs are also seeking an Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian lands occupied in the 1967 Israel-Arab War, as well as from Syria’s Golan Heights.
Iran, which was not invited to the Annapolis talks, added an edge to the proceedings by announcing Tuesday that it had developed a ballistic missile with a range of 2,000 km. The missile’s range would allow it to reach Israel, as well as US military bases in the Middle East.