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MOSCOW READY TO HOST CONFERENCE ON MIDDLE EAST AFTER ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS' PULLOUT

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MOSCOW, May 16 (RIA Novosti) - It will be possible to hold a conference on the Middle EAST in Moscow after Israel withdraws its settlements from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, officials at the Russian Foreign Ministry say.

Speaking Monday at a roundtable discussion hosted by RIA Novosti, Sergei Vershinin, Director of the ministry's Middle East and North Africa Department, pointed out the importance of making sure that Mideastern negotiations were not disrupted. "There are fears that Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank will be followed by a pause in the diplomatic process. Making sure that there are no breaks in the negotiations and that the sides don't lose touch with each other is the idea behind the conference we propose holding," he said.

Tensions between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority are on the rise again, the Russian official argued. In his view, this is a result of the negotiating process having lost momentum.

"Israel's pullout from Gaza and part of the West Bank won't be a full stop. The prospective conference on the Middle East in Moscow will help the sides concerned and the Quartet of international mediators to think together about what else can be done toward peace settlement in the Middle East," said Vershinin.

"The Moscow conference may become one of those important measures that will help us realize where we are standing and what we shall do next," he added.

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