JERUSALEM, February 3. /TASS/. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be resolved only by negotiations, the speaker of the Russian Federation Council, Valentina Matviyenko, said on Wednesday, following the talks with her Israeli counterpart, Knesset speaker Yuli-Yoel Edelstein.
"Russia has always insisted that there is no other way to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict except peaceful political negotiations," Matviyenko said, adding that Russia is deeply concerned with "recent escalation of the relations, actual freezing of negotiations process."
"Russia will be making efforts to find a mutually acceptable way to resume the dialogue in the bilateral format, as well as in the framework of the "quartet," she said.
Edelstein said that "Israel has no preliminary conditions for the resumption of negotiations".
"The Knesset will accept with enthusiasm anything done by the Federation Council and Russian authorities to improve cooperation with parliaments of neighboring Arabic states," he said.
"We are the speakers, we are not authorized to hold peace negotiations, but we can improve cooperation," he added.
Russian parliamentary speaker hopes for understating with Israel on Hezbollah
Speaker of the Russian Federation Council upper parliamentary house Valentina Matviyenko is hopeful that understanding with Israel may be reached on prevention of the Lebanese Hezbollah group’s arming in Syria.
"We can hear each other’s concerns, a dialogue is underway and I am sure that understanding will be reached on this issue," Matviyenko told reporters, answering a question on Israel’s fears that Russian weapons might come into hands of the Lebanese Hezbollah group in Syria.
The dialogue should go ahead on a daily basis, she said admitting that the Syria talks "are ploughing through a list, or a register, of international organizations which all the countries would agree to define as outlawed."
Also, the lawmaker said that "both Russia and Israel alongside the international community are faced with a task to do everything to cut off any flows of finance and weapons to terrorist organizations," the advocates of misanthropic ideology.
In the meantime, Speaker of Israel’s parliament Knesset Yuli-Yoel Edelstein said if Hezbollah obtained advanced weapons, "Israel will see it as a serious threat" and called to discuss the issue "behind closed doors but frankly."