ANKARA. April 7 (Interfax) - The Palestinian-Israeli peace process has been pushed back far, while the ongoing clashes may lead to further escalation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"Regretfully, the process has been pushed back far by many events, including clashes [and] the unilateral measures of the Palestinians and the Israelis, which have developed into fierce confrontations fraught with the further escalation of tensions," Lavrov said at a press conference in Ankara on Friday.
Russia "agrees with the need to return to the fundamental UN resolutions on the principles of direct dialogue between the Palestinians and Israelis, in the format of the so-called two-state solution," he said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said later today that Moscow "urges the conflicting sides to abstain from confrontational steps, act in the interests of the prevention of further escalation, stop violence, and resume a sustainable ceasefire."
"We reaffirm the importance of maintaining the status quo of the holy places in Jerusalem and respecting the rights of believers of all confessions. It is necessary to be particularly careful in such matters now that the Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan, the Catholic and Orthodox Easter, and the Jewish Passover are celebrated this April," the ministry said in a statement on its website.
"Only the launch of a full-scale negotiating process aimed at the elaboration of a compromise formula of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement based on the known international legal foundation can be a token of enduring stabilization," the ministry said.
"Recurrences of violent confrontation are unavoidable in the absence of a clear 'political horizon' of a comprehensive settlement of the protracted problem," it said.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has recently escalated amid the Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan and the Jewish holiday of Passover. Over 40 missiles were fired at Israel from Gaza early on Friday morning, while the Israeli military hit sites of the Palestinian Hamas movement in Lebanon. Missiles were fired at northern Israel from Lebanon the day before.