MOSCOW, October 11. /TASS/. A settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the key to peace in the Middle East, Russia’s ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov said in a discussion on the platform of the Valdai Discussion Club.

"It is impossible to achieve a stable peace in the Middle East without resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, one of the most long-standing ones in our modern history, which keeps fueling both tensions in the region and radical sentiments outside it," he stated.

Viktorov drew attention to the fact that "the processes of normalization and the establishment of good-neighborly relations [with the parties to the conflict] should not distract attention or 'sweep the Palestinian problem under the carpet."

"The Russian diplomacy intends to continue its consistent and high-principled course of seeking a solution to this crisis on the basis of creating two states for two peoples," Viktorov emphasized. "We will continue to press for a solution to this chief task alongside efforts to promptly end the hostilities around the Gaza Strip and prevent their escalation into an uncontrollable phase or some regional dimension."