German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Friday he is convinced Saturday's meeting of the Mideast Quartet will contribute to regional peace efforts.
"I hope the Middle East Quartet's meeting will give fresh impetuses to the peace process in the region," Westerwelle told journalists after talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton, Lavrov and European Commission Vice President Catherine Ashton will meet on the sidelines of the annual Munich Security Conference.
Direct talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, which resumed last September after a 20-month standoff, collapsed in December after Israel refused to stop construction in the occupied West Bank.
The meeting of the Quartet, which is made up of Russia, the United States, the United Nations and the European Union, will take place on Russia's initiative.
MUNICH, February 5 (RIA Novosti)
