By Xinhua
Moscow : Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit Middle East next week in a bid to promote a peace conference in Moscow, RIA news agency reported on Tuesday.
Lavrov will visit Syria, Israel and the Palestinian territories on March 19-21, RIA quoted a ministry spokesman as saying.
Russia is discussing the convening of a Middle East meeting with the Palestinians, the Israelis, countries involved in mediating the conflict and members of the Arab League, Mikhail Kamynin said in a statement.
“Many of our partners confirm they are interested in holding an international Middle East meeting in Moscow,” Kamynin said.
The conference is being arranged “to stop setbacks in the peace process and give the sides a chance to deliver their Annapolis commitments,” he added.
The Palestinian-Israeli negotiations were resumed during a U.S.-hosted peace conference in Annapolis last November.
Kamynin noted that the Middle East is undergoing increased violence between the Palestinians and Israelis and an “acute humanitarian crisis” in the Gaza Strip.
The upcoming meeting will address such issues as Palestine-Israel relations, solutions for the Gaza humanitarian crisis, measures to curb violence and resumption of the peace negotiations, said Kamynin.
On March 13-14, Lavrov will attend a meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Dakar, the capital of Senegal.