Israel shows little enthusiasm for Moscow peace conference
JERUSALEM (AFP) — A senior Israeli official on Friday expressed reservations over a proposal for a Middle East conference in Moscow promoted by visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
"Out of diplomatic courtesy, we didn't reject the plan, but the truth is, we are not enthusiastic," the official said, asking not to be named.
"There have been enough international conferences. What is needed is to move forward in direct negotiations with the Palestinian Authority," he said.
Lavrov has said he was discussing the proposed Moscow conference with all interested parties. He was scheduled to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in the occupied West Bank on Friday, following talks on Thursday with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Tel Aviv.
"Nothing has been finalised," Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev said after Thursday's talks.
"Israel supports any action that will move direct negotiation forward," he said.
In Washington, a spokesman for Condoleezza Rice confirmed the US secretary of state had discussed Russia's proposal during her visit to Moscow this week.
"The main objective is to help the ongoing talks to create a positive atmosphere that will allow the peace process to reach a conclusion," Lavrov said on Thursday.
Long-moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace talks were revived at the US-sponsored Annapolis conference in November, but have made little progress since.
