MOSCOW, June 7 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's foreign minister called on Israel and Palestine Wednesday to resume negotiations to break the long-standing deadlock in the Middle East peace process.

Sergei Lavrov said Russia, a member of the Middle East Quartet trying to broker an agreement to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, was seriously concerned by the situation and urged the president of the Palestinian Authority and Israel's prime minister to restart talks.

"Both leaders - Mahmoud Abbas and Ehud Olmert - should understand their responsibility... for normalizing the situation," Lavrov said at a meeting with Nabil Shaath, a former foreign minister of the Palestinian Authority.

He said he hoped the two leaders would meet in the foreseeable future.

"It is encouraging that the two leaders are ready for a one-on-one meeting. It would be an extremely important move toward understanding each other better and laying the groundwork for restarting the dialogue," he said.

Lavrov said unilateral steps in the Palestinian-Israelis peace process could not secure a long-term settlement.

"We do not see an alternative to negotiations. We are convinced that unilateral moves cannot ensure a stable, long-term resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli problem," he said.