MOSCOW. Dec 26 (Interfax) - The Russian Foreign Ministry has explained why Russia voted in favor of passing UN Security Council resolution on the Middle East peace process on December 23, which demanded an end to the illegal Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories.
"A document concerning the matter has been approved by the UN Security Council for the first time over the past eight years. The Russian Federation voted in favor of it on the grounds that its content is based on approbated wordings reflecting the international community's common and repeatedly confirmed position on illegality of Israel's settlement activity," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement available on its website on Saturday.
"All our experience confirms that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict can be resolved by achieving a two-state solution only through direct negotiations without preconditions between Palestinians and Israelis. This is precisely what Russia's efforts are focused on, and it will continue to actively facilitate the negotiating process as a member of the Middle East Quartet of international mediators. We would like also to point out that we stand ready to welcome the leaders of Israel and Palestine in Moscow," it said.
"In the process of consultations at the UN Security Council, we proceeded from the assumption that the greatest positive effect from adopting the resolution on this most sensitive issue on the international agenda could have been achieved in the event of its consensus-based support," the Foreign Ministry said.
"Such a consensus could have been achieved through more careful work, which takes a longer time, and without haste, which is not conducive to the cause. We pursued this very line in contacts with our partners in the UN Security Council," it said.
"We hope that the parties' determination to interact constructively and make progress in the Middle East peace process will prevail in the near future," it said.
The resolution was backed by 14 UN Security Council members, and the U.S. abstained from the voting.