MOSCOW. Jan 16 (Interfax) - Moscow welcomes the results of a meeting the preparatory committee of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) held in Beirut, and hopes they will be realized in practice, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"We welcome the meeting of the PNC preparatory committee held in Beirut a few days ago, which issued an important communique confirming a course towards consolidation of your ranks and towards a formation with joint efforts of a national unity government whose competence will cover all Palestinian territories," Lavrov said while opening a meeting with senior representatives of Palestinian parties.
"We are very hopeful that today's meeting, your communications with each other in Moscow will help make sure this decision does not become just another declaration but will also materialize in practical deeds," the minister said.
"Our country is a principled and consistent supporter of the restoration of Palestinian unity, overcoming the split that happened ten years ago. I think all of you will agree that over this period it was evident many a time that an absence of unity has a negative effect on solutions to the Palestinian problem," he said.
"We are convinced that for the Palestinian people to exercise their inalienable rights it is still necessary to strike difficult but necessary compromises. In the end, as we understand it, all of you are united by the common goal of creating an independent, viable Palestinian state which lives in peace and safety side by side with all its neighbors," Lavrov said.
"A whole host of Middle Eastern states of the region are keen on helping you regain unity," the minister said.
Earlier Palestinian Ambassador in Moscow Abdel Hafiz Nofal said that a meeting will take place in Moscow on January 15, regarding intra-Palestinian reconciliation, which will involve, in particular, Hamas, Jihad, the National Front and the National Democrats.