OREANDA-NEWS. July 13, 2011. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Bogdanov, and the Russian FM’s Special Envoy for Middle East Peace, Ambassador at Large Sergey Yakovlev held on July 11-12 in Washington meetings and discussions on the full range of problems facing the Middle East and North Africa with US partners: Deputy Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns, Special Assistant to the US President Dennis Ross, Special Envoy for Sudan Princeton Lyman, and Acting Special Envoy for Middle East Peace David Hale.

In the context of preparations for a ministerial meeting of the Quartet of international mediators an in-depth exchange of views took place on the situation in the Middle East peace process with emphasis laid on the difficulties that hinder the resumption of Palestinian-Israeli dialogue. The Russian side reaffirmed the need for early restart of the negotiating process to create an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines, coexisting in peace and security with Israel.

Participants in the consultations compared notes ahead of the UN Security Council Ministerial Meeting on Sudan scheduled for July 13.

Expressing satisfaction with the level of coordination between Moscow and Washington in Sudanese affairs, they stressed the urgency of providing international assistance to the Republic of Southern Sudan in establishing institutions of government, as well as in addressing the pressing socioeconomic problems. They also highlighted the importance of making efficient use of the capacity of the UN in order to ensure the stable development of this new state of Africa.

In the discussion of Libya’s problems, the Russian side underlined the need for strict implementation of UN Security Council resolutions 1970 and 1973, the immediate cessation of all hostilities and the search for a political solution to the conflict. It accentuated the importance of relieving the political tension in Syria and Yemen through establishing a broad national dialogue there. Also, the political, economic and social situation in Egypt was examined in detail because of its special influence on the trends of social processes in the Arab-Muslim world.

The consultations ended with reaffirmation of the mutual pledge by both parties to continue to exchange views on regional issues in a confidential and regular manner.