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Russia’s and Israel’s foreign ministers note importance of promoting re-launch of Palestine-Israel talks

Sergei Lavrov and Tzipi Livni focused attention on the prospects for promoting the Middle East settlement

MOSCOW, July 9 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Israel’s Minister of Justice and the Israeli government’s envoy for talks with the Palestinians Tzipi Livni have agreed that it is vital to create “a favorable atmosphere to re-launch the Palestinian-Israeli talks, for which ends reciprocal steps are needed from both sides,” the Russian foreign ministry reported on Tuesday after a meeting between the Russian and Israeli ministers.

“The two ministers focused attention on the prospects for promoting the Middle East settlement with a special emphasis on the efforts to find a way out of the protracted dead end in the negotiating process between the Israelis and the Palestinians,” the Russian foreign ministry said. “In this connection Lavrov and Livni reiterated commitment to the two-state solution capable of maximal satisfying of the needs of both the Palestinian and the Israeli peoples. They noted the importance of steps to create a favorable atmosphere to re-launch the Palestianina-Israeli talks, for which ends reciprocal steps are needed from both sides.

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