Russia intensified its appeal for Middle East peace Thursday by calling on Israel and the Palestinians to immediately take measures to stop the violence between them.
"It is necessary to keep apart Israeli troops and the Palestinian population, to guarantee that force is not applied against Palestinians again, to free up the Palestinian territories and to enable Palestinian police to reestablish order," the Russian foreign ministry stated in a press release.
Russian diplomats are "energetically perusing efforts to end the Israeli-Palestinian crisis and normalize the situation in the Middle East," the press release read.
The ministry renewed its appeal to the international community to define "a new framework" for future negotiations.
Traditionally an ally of Arab nations, Russia co-sponsored the Middle East peace process with the United States. However, Russia has lost much of its influence in the region but hopes to find a role.
Russian diplomats were not invited to the ceasefire summit held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on October 16 to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Moscow believes that future peace negotiations must include the Palestinians, Syria and Lebanon – MOSCOW (AFP)
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