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Russia, Iraq reject attempts to privatize Middle Eastern settlement — Lavrov

In late June, the White House published a document dubbed "the deal of the century" focusing on the economic aspects of the plan to resolve the conflict

BAGHDAD, October 7. /TASS/. Russia and Iraq are opposed to efforts to privatize the Arab-Israeli settlement process, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday following talks with his Iraqi counterpart Mohamed Ali Alhakim.

"As for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, we are in favor of the commitment to all UN decisions, which promote direct dialogue between the parties in order to reach an agreement on a two-state solution," Lavrov noted. "We believe that attempts to privatize the Palestinian-Israeli settlement process are counterproductive."

The Palestinian-Israeli negotiation process has been frozen since 2014. All contacts are carried out through Egyptian mediators. The situation deteriorated further after the US recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s new capital and relocated its embassy from Tel Aviv there. Palestinians said at that time that further dialogue with Israel was impossible.

In late June, the White House published a document focusing on the economic aspects of the plan to resolve the conflict dubbed "the deal of the century." It envisages, in particular, investment in Palestine and neighboring countries to the tune of $50 bln. On June 25-26, an international meeting dedicated to the economic aspects of the deal was held in the capital of Bahrain Manama. The Palestinian administration and a number of Arab countries boycotted the event considering this approach to be inappropriate.