The European Union and the United States have no right to declare the Middle East Quartet "dead" as Palestine welcomes and highly appreciates Russia's role in the mediation group on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Maliki told Sputnik
RAMALLAH (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th February, 2023) The European Union and the United States have no right to declare the Middle East Quartet "dead" as Palestine welcomes and highly appreciates Russia's role in the mediation group on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Maliki told Sputnik.
"The Americans, the Europeans are telling us that the Quartet is dead because they do not see any role for Russia in that Quartet... We always felt that the Quartet has a mandate according to Resolution 1515 of the Security Council, so no one could declare death to the Quartet because Quartet, you know, has been mentioned and given the mandate from the Security Council resolution," al-Maliki said in an interview.
The Palestinian top diplomat added that he had received enough signals from Moscow in recent weeks about its readiness and desire to participate in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Moreover, Russia has clearly expressed its intention to reactivate talks on the issue within the framework of the Middle East Quartet, al-Maliki added.
"I received a phone call from my colleague (Russian Foreign Minister) Sergey Lavrov, where he offered his condolences for the Palestinian victims, and he showed readiness to do whatever is needed in order to help (mediate) between the Israelis and the Palestinians. And he said, 'we want also to see how to reactivate the Quartet.' I listened to him also in the joint press conference with the Egyptian foreign minister, where he once again made a reference to the Quartet," the Palestinian foreign minister said.
However, the US and the EU seem not to be ready to engage in the negotiations in this format, unlike Moscow, which means that the Quartet is not going to be active, al-Maliki said, adding that it forced Palestine to look for other options.
"We say if the Quartet is active, we do welcome that. If the Russian Federation wants to play a role on its own, we do welcome that, as well as if any country in the world wants to contribute to the peace process and to create a positive atmosphere towards the resumption of negotiations, we do look at that (positively)," the Palestinian foreign minister told Sputnik.
Relations between Israel and Palestine have been adversarial since the latter's founding in 1948. Palestinians seek diplomatic recognition of their independent state on the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which is partially occupied by Israel, and the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government refuses to recognize Palestine as an independent political and diplomatic entity, and builds settlements in the occupied areas despite objections from the United Nations.
The EU, the UN, the US and Russia together comprise the Middle East Quartet, a group established in Madrid in 2002 to mediate the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. The Quartet's activities aim to develop the Palestinian economy and its institutional empowerment, as well as promote a two state solution to the conflict.
