MOSCOW. July 18 (Interfax) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with the heads of diplomatic missions of several Arab nations and Turkey accredited in Moscow on Tuesday, and the meeting saw "an interested exchange of views on the situation in the Middle East with an emphasis on the problem of Middle East settlement," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"Lavrov explained the Russian initiative proposals on holding a consultative meeting with the participation of Russia, the Arab League and regional states actively involved in discussing the Middle East settlement in order to synchronize efforts in this field, including the purpose of ensuring Palestinian national unity on the constructive political platform of the Palestine Liberation Organization," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"As was emphasized by Lavrov, moving the peacekeeping efforts in the Middle East onto a collective basis is becoming particularly important amid the leading role of regional countries. We understand that the processes going on in the Middle East and in the Gulf region, the process of healing relations between states, particularly between Saudi Arabia and Iran, between Syria and Turkey, and Syria's return to the Arab League, create necessary prerequisites for settling the Palestinian problem in line with the universally acknowledged legal basis of the Middle East settlement," it said.
The meeting held in the format of a working breakfast was attended by the chiefs of the Lebanese, Algerian, Egyptian, Jordanian, Iraqi, Moroccan, Omani, Saudi, Syrian, Turkish, Bahraini, Qatari, Kuwaiti and UAE diplomatic missions in Moscow, and an Arab League representative, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.