Russia ready to host Israeli-Palestinian peace talks without preconditions - Lavrov

MOSCOW, February 19. /TASS/. Russia is prepared to host peace talks between Palestine and Israel without preconditions, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday at the opening of the Valdai International Discussion Club’s conference "Russia in the Middle East: Playing on All Fields." Lately, both the Israeli prime minister and the Palestinian president as well as the King of Jordan have visited Moscow, he noted. "We are convinced that there is no other way than a direct agreement between Palestine and Israel," Lavrov said. "We confirm our readiness to provide a Russian venue for the Palestinian and Israeli leaders without preconditions." "We expect that this offer will be noticed and there will be a response," he stressed. The status of Jerusalem is one of the pressing issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel insists that Jerusalem is its "eternal and indivisible" capital, whereas the Palestinians seek to make the city’s eastern part the capital of their future state. Another obstacle for resolving the long-running Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the continuing construction in the Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Read more