UNITED NATIONS, August 30. /TASS/. Russia suggests a ministerial meeting of the Middle East Quartet (Russia, the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations) be called in September as part of the United Nations General Assembly, Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Anna Yevstigneyeva said on Monday.
"We call for the re-launch of direct Palestinian-Israeli talks geared toward satisfying Palestinians’ legitimate aspirations for an independent state with a capital in East Jerusalem and removing Israelis’ national security concerns," she said during a UN Security Council meeting. "We assign a special role in promoting this task to the Middle East Quartet, which is the only internationally recognized mechanism of mediating the Palestinian-Israeli settlement."
"We call on our Quartet colleagues to respond positively to our initiative to hold a ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly’s high-level week in September and consultations in the extended format involving regional states," she noted, adding that there are risks of escalating clashes in the Gaza Strip’s border areas into large-scale hostilities.
"Risks of the forcible displacement of several Arab families from East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood are still in place. On August 2, Israel’s Supreme Court postponed hearings of this case indefinitely, which can trigger another spiral of escalation," the Russian diplomat pointed out. She stressed that Israel’s illegal settlement activities and the seizure of land and property on the occupied territories constitute a violation of international law. "Such actions seriously complicate international efforts toward the soonest resumption of direct Palestinian-Israeli talks on a comprehensive settlement of issues of the final status," she stressed.