Politics

08:26, 12.02.2009 | Russia

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit Israel and the Palestinian territories during his West Asia tour next week, to push for a renewed peace efforts in the region.

''The Russian Foreign Minister will visit the state of Israel, Palestinian territories, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Sultanate of Oman and the Kingdom of Bahrain on February 15-19,'' Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement yesterday.

The resumption of the peace process in the West Asia would be a priority during Mr Lavrov's visit, the statement said.

Mr Lavorv met with top EU foreign policy officials yesterday to discuss, among other things, West Asia conflict settlement.

''We will expect the new Israeli government to be committed to the agreements which were concluded earlier in Annapolis,'' he told reporters after the talks.

Yesterday, the centrist Kadima party, led by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, and the opposition right-wing Likud party, headed by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, both claimed victory in Israel's early parliamentary polls.

Mr Lavrov said Israel's three-week military operation in Gaza that started on December 27 and left more than 1,300 Palestinians dead should not discourage all sides from seeking a peaceful solution to the Palestinian issue.

''It is also necessary to consider resuming the peace process which has suffered a severe blow. We should not lose heart,'' he said.

Mr Lavrov said Russia's and the EU's positions on the West Asia almost coincided.

''We have almost identical positions on West Asia affairs,'' he said, adding, the timing of a Moscow conference on the West Asia would be announced soon.

''We will soon announce the timeframe for holding a Moscow conference on the West Asia,'' Mr Lavrov said.

He stressed Russia expected the conference to build on earlier international agreements on the problem, and that it would ''continue what was started in Annapolis''.

Talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, launched by former US President George Bush in November 2007 at a conference in Annapolis, Maryland, have been stalled by an outbreak of violence in the West Asia, as well as long-standing disputes over the construction of Jewish settlements and the future status of Jerusalem.