OREANDA-NEWS.  On November 9, a meeting between Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov and First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel Tzipi Livni took place in Sharm el Sheikh on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting of the Middle East Quartet of international mediators.

During the conversation, topical international and regional problems were discussed, with emphasis on the situation in the Middle East. Lavrov accentuated the importance of advancing the Arab-Israeli negotiation process and achieving an enduring comprehensive and fair settlement in the Middle East region on an international legal basis. He noted the readiness of Russia together with the other Quartet participants and all the concerned parties to help the achievement of this objective in every way.

Livni reaffirmed Israel’s focus on the soonest normalization of Arab-Israeli relations and gave a high appraisal of Russia’s contribution to peacemaking efforts in the Middle East.

The sides expressed their mutual interest in the further development of many-sided Russian-Israeli relations, to which the recent visit to Moscow of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gave a weighty new impulse.