Having Phone Calls with Palestine and Israel: Russian Foreign Minister Asks All Parties to Restrain, Calls for Resumption of Middle East Quartet

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov while attending the G20 Summit in Bali. (Twitter/@mfa_russia)

JAKARTA - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on Israel and Palestine to refrain from actions that could provoke further degradation of the situation in the conflict zone between the two countries, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

"Foreign Minister Lavrov calls on the Israeli and Palestinian partners to show full responsibility and refrain from any actions that may provoke further degradation of the situation," the ministry said, citing TASS January 30.

The statement was issued after Foreign Minister Lavrov made phone calls with his Israeli and Palestinian colleagues Eli Cohen and Riyad al-Maliki. which were held separately on January 28 and 29.

"The Russian side emphasizes that Moscow is concerned about a new spiral of violence in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone, with the resumption of full-scale armed confrontation causing more victims and damage," the ministry said.

According to the ministry, it "is an open and sincere exchange of views on the prospects for the development of the situation in the Middle East region, focusing on the Palestinian-Israeli settlement issue.

On this occasion, Foreign Minister Lavrov also stressed the need to restart the efforts of the quarter of international mediators or the Quartet on The Middle East, to relaunch the negotiation process between the Israeli and Palestinian parties based on international law as soon as possible."

"Foreign Minister Lavrov stressed the need to restart the efforts of the Quarter of international mediators, to relaunch the negotiation process between the Israeli and Palestinian sides based on international law as soon as possible," the ministry said.

It is known that the Quartet on The Middle East or Madrid Quartet which was founded in 2002 in Madrid, Spain is a forum to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict consisting of the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia.

Israeli-Palestinian violence has continued since last year, with around 20 Palestinians killed since the turn of the year. Meanwhile, 2022 is said to be the deadliest year in the last seven years, in which 230 residents were killed and 9.353 injured over the past year.