ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS/LAVROV Russia's Lavrov meets chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat in Moscow

Record ID: 398879

  • Title: ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS/LAVROV Russia's Lavrov meets chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat in Moscow
  • Date: 22nd December 2014
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (DECEMBER 22, 2014) (REUTERS) RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY BUILDING MEETING BETWEEN RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SERGEI LAVROV AND CHIEF PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR SAEB EREKAT AND MEMBERS OF DELEGATIONS IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, SERGEI LAVROV, SAYING: "We are deeply concerned with the dead end situation in the peace process between Pale
  • Embargoed: 6th January 2015 12:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA4412YVBOKMR187F485FWLK5NQ
  • Story Text: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks with the chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Rerkat in Moscow on Monday (December 22). The talks were expected to focus on a possible vote on Palestinian-drafted resolution formally submitted to the United Nations Security Council last week. The resolution calls for peace between Israel and the Palestinians within one year and an end to Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories by the end of 2017
    "We are deeply concerned with the dead end situation in the peace process between Palestine and Israel. We fully understand and support legal aspirations of the Palestinian people to finally find statehood. We know how the situation develops at the United Nations, in particular in the Security Council," said Lavrov addressing the Palestinian delegation.
    The resolution formally submitted by Jordan last Wednesday (December 17) could be put to a vote any time, but there is no guarantee it will happen. Some formally submitted drafts have never been voted.
    "Thanks a lot for your support of our efforts to resolve the Palestinian issue, including the efforts (to resolve it ) within the UN. Today we will discuss lots of issues, we will be glad to listen to your opinion of the situation," said Saeb Erekat addressing Lavrov at the start of the talks.
    Diplomats say negotiations on the text could take days or weeks.
    An earlier Palestinian draft informally circulated to the council in October called for an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory by November 2016, but the United States and others found this text unacceptable.
    Nine votes are needed to adopt a resolution, which would then force the United States, a close ally of Israel, to decide whether to veto it. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said last week the United States had made "no determinations about language, approaches, specific resolutions, any of that."
    France, Britain and Germany are also drafting a resolution, which French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said would propose concluding peace talks in two years. Other parameters for ending the conflict would also be set, diplomats said. The submitted Palestinian draft appears to reflect some European ideas.
    Palestinians seek statehood in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and blockaded Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as their capital - lands captured by Israel in a 1967 war.
    The draft resolution submitted on Wednesday states that a negotiated solution should be based on several parameters including the 1967 borders, security agreements, and "Jerusalem as the shared capital of the two States which fulfils the legitimate aspirations of both parties and protects freedom of worship."
    The text also "calls upon both parties to abstain from any unilateral and illegal actions, including settlement activities, that could undermine the viability of a two-state solution."
    Israel accepts the "two-state solution" of an independent and democratic Palestinian state alongside Israel, but has not accepted the 1967 borders as the basis for final negotiations, citing security and other concerns.
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