Jordan, Russia urge total freeze of Jewish settlements

Jul 20, 2009, 17:54 GMT

Amman - Jordan and Russia on Monday called for a 'complete cessation' of Jewish settlements in Jerusalem and other Palestinian territories in the run-up for negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel that lead to the realization of the two-state vision.

The remarks came during a meeting between Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh and Russian Middle East special envoy Alexander Saltanov, who is currently on a tour of the region.

'Judeh and Saltanov stressed the need for exploiting the real opportunity currently available for achieving peace and paving the ground for launching successful negotiations through a complete cessation of settlement activity and all other Israeli unilateral measures in East Jerusalem and the rest of Palestinian territories,' an official statement said.

'Judeh underscored the importance of Russia's role and leverage on the international arena in pushing efforts forward towards the establishment of just and comprehensive peace in the region,' it added.

From his part, Saltanov said that his current Middle East tour had the aim of 'backing international moves aimed at the establishment of peace in the Middle East and paving the ground for launching serious negotiations on all tracks that lead to the application of the two- state solution'.

The two men also discussed the idea of convening an international conference on the Middle East in Moscow, its objectives and references and agreed to hold further consultations on the issues to be tackled by the proposed meeting, the statement said.

The Russian emissary is scheduled to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories in the coming couple of days. Before coming to Amman, Saltanov was in Syria and Lebanon.