MOSCOW, October 11. /TASS/. Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov has stressed the need to urgently launch a process of direct negotiations between Palestine and Israel.

"It is necessary to urgently move toward launching a direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiation process that would be comprehensive and settle all those issues that have remained unsettled to this day," the diplomat said.

According to him, it is most important now to achieve an immediate ceasefire. "It is necessary to stop the violence, bloodshed, to show restraint, it is necessary to suppress emotions; emotions are running high on both sides. It is obvious to absolutely everyone that it is necessary to switch to full-scale talks in order to settle the Palestinian issue relying, as we have also asserted, on the two-state solution and in accordance with the decisions, the well-known UN resolutions, agreements made in Oslo and Madrid in the past, the Arab Peace Initiative and others," the envoy added.

Viktorov noted that Russia "maintains interaction with both conflicting sides" as well as with other countries in the region. "We are planning on making relevant efforts at international venues as well," the diplomat said.