Taking over Palestinian lands for settlements should end

Russia believes that it is necessary to immediately start negotiating the strategy of collective steps to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Russian Presidential Special Envoy for the Middle East, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said at the Cairo Peace Summit looking for solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"Simultaneously with resolving the emergency tasks of stopping the current spiral of violence, it is necessary to immediately start negotiating the strategy of collective measures for a political settlement of the conflict, as the task of promoting this was previously handled by the Quartet of International mediators comprising Russia, the United States, the European Unions, and the United Nations," TASS quoted him as saying.

The diplomat added that the establishment of a collective mediation mechanism with an active role of regional nations is on the agenda.

"This is supported by the positive trends that have recently taken shape in the development of the Middle East situation, namely the Saudi-Iranian normalization, Syria’s reintegration into the Arab League, and the gradual recovery of interstate relations between Syria and Turkey. All this proves that when the regional nations take the situation into their own hands, not being under external pressure, they achieve a lot on the way to stabilizing the Middle East," Bogdanov said.

Bogdanov pointed out that "Russian diplomacy is making intensive efforts to de-escalate the situation."

He went on to say that Russian President Vladimir Putin held telephone talks with the presidents of Arab nations, Iran, as well as the Israeli regime officials. "Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has sent urgent messages to his regional counterparts," the high-ranking diplomat said.

"Obviously, it is impossible to resolve the Palestinian problem with palliative measures, material incentives, and ideas of economic peace. Likewise, it is impossible to freeze the conflict in a low-intensity mode," he said, adding that the vicious cycle of violence should be broken and unilateral steps such as the takeover of Palestinian lands for settlements, as well as the undermining of the status of the al-Quds' shrines should be avoided.