WASHINGTON, April 14. /TASS/. Contacts between Israel and Lebanon under the auspices of the United States are designed to culminate in agreements on lasting peace and put an end to the influence of Shiite group Hezbollah, US Secretary of State and national security advisor to the American president Marco Rubio said.

"This is a historic opportunity," Rubio said, opening a preliminary round of talks in Washington between diplomats from Lebanon and Israel.

"We understand we’re working against decades of history and complexities." According to Rubio, the current negotiations are about "a lot more" than a "ceasefire," about the end of Israel's military operations in Lebanon.

"This is about bringing a permanent end to 20 or 30 years of Hezbollah’s influence in this part of the world," he said, adding that "the Lebanese people are victims of Hezbollah. The Lebanese people are victims of Iranian aggression."

"I know this will be a process. This - all of the complexities of this matter are not going to be resolved in the next six hours. But we can begin to move forward to create the framework where something can happen - something very positive, something very permanent - so that the people of Lebanon can have the kind of future they deserve, and so that the people of Israel can live without fear of being struck by rocket attacks from a terrorist proxy of Iran," Rubio said. "This is a process, not an event. This is more than just one day."

In his opinion, there is hope that a framework can be worked out that leads to "a permanent and lasting peace."

"So that, as I said, the people of Israel can live in peace, and the people of Lebanon can live not just in peace but the prosperity and security that they deserve," Rubio added.

The talks are supposed to set a date for the start of peace talks to reach a ceasefire agreement. The delegations will be led by the ambassadors of Lebanon and Israel to the United States, Nada Hamadeh and Yechiel Leiter.