VLADIVOSTOK. Oct 24 (Interfax) - The events going on in the Middle East and North Africa could be partly explained by the fact that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has still not been settled, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"What is happening there makes the settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict even more important," Lavrov said in an interview in a Saturday issue of the Vesti program broadcast to the Far Eastern part of Russia.
Palestine and Israel should settle their conflict as soon as possible, Lavrov said. "Radical extremist forces, which are trying to fish in troubled waters in the Middle East and in Africa now, are leaning in large part on the idea that the Palestinian people's humiliation and oppression cannot be tolerated any longer," he said.
Talking about the swap of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for the captured Israeli solider Gilad Shalit, Lavrov said, "It is senseless and counterproductive to try to imagine yourself in the shoes of the people who make political decisions."
This decision was "extremely necessary," he said.
Lavrov said he hoped the exchange would help "calm down the situation in the region" and the two parties would sit at the negotiating table.