MOSCOW. November 1 (Interfax) - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and presidential envoy for the Middle East Alexander Saltanov and Japanese Government Special Envoy for the Middle East Yutaka Iimura discussed the Arab-Israeli conflict and the situation in the region on the whole.
"Both parties expressed their concerns about the tense situation on the Middle East arena and complicated problems fraught with serious challenges to international peace and security, which are piling up there," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its website on Friday.
The two diplomats "emphasized the need for stepping up collective efforts in the interests of untying conflict knots and, above all, resolving the key issue, the one concerning Palestine, through resuming Palestinian-Israeli negotiations on a commonly recognized international legal basis," it said.