Russia Promotes 'Moscow Summit' For Mideast Negotiations

By BENNY AVNI, Staff Reporter of the Sun
April 1, 2008

UNITED NATIONS — Russia's ambassador to the United Nations is promoting the idea of an international peace conference in Moscow, a proposal that Israel has greeted with suspicion.

The "Moscow summit" would bring together leaders from all the Arab countries and Israel, as well as an international steering group known as the "quartet," which in addition to Russia includes America, the European Union, and the United Nations. Vitaly Churkin acknowledged yesterday that no date has yet been set; Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's recent visit to Jerusalem reportedly failed to convince Israelis of the need to meet under Russia's aegis.

Russia is not pushing the summit "for selfish reasons," Mr. Churkin told U.N. reporters. "We are not imposing this Moscow meeting on anybody. It's a part of our obligation, we feel, as a member of the quartet," and will add an "additional impetus" to peace efforts in the region.

Although Prime Minister Olmert has stopped short of dismissing the initiative altogether, he told reporters last week: "I think, quite frankly, as I said to Secretary Lavrov that, you know, what we need in order to make peace in the Middle East is to see the two sides sitting together and talk rather than going to international conventions."

Mr. Lavrov's meetings in Jerusalem on March 20 were described in a report in the Jerusalem Post as "nasty." Citing unnamed Foreign Ministry sources, the paper said Mr. Lavrov was "agitated throughout his meetings with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and President Shimon Peres," and was only in a "slightly better mood" in talks with Mr. Olmert. The sources told the Post that Mr. Lavrov's "testiness" could have stemmed from uncertainty about his future under President-elect Dmitry Medvedev.

While the idea of an international gathering in Moscow initially arose as a follow-up to the Middle East summit in Annapolis last fall, America has not appeared eager to widen the circle of countries involved in the Israeli-Palestinian Arab talks. After meeting yesterday with President Abbas in Amman, Jordan, Secretary of State Rice said bilateral negotiations are moving in the "right direction."

"We can reach" the goal of establishing a Palestinian Arab state by the end of the year, she said. But shortly after she left the region, with an admonishment to Jerusalem about its settlement policies, Israel announced that it approved the construction of 1,400 new homes in parts of Jerusalem and the West Bank.