Abbas in Russia: Mideast peace process is deadlocked

Jan 26, 2010, 17:54 GMT

Moscow - The Middle East peace process is deadlocked, said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Tuesday.

'There is no blueprint that can get the political processes moving forward,' Abbas was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

Medvedev said that Moscow supported the two-state solution that sees the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Russia was calling for a new start to the peace process and could make its own contribution, Medvedev said, speaking of the possibility of a February meeting in Moscow of the so-called Mideast Quartet - Russia, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Sochi confirmed plans by Moscow for a large international Mideast conference. However, beforehand, Israel and the Palestinians must make considerable progress in their, he said.

Lavrov renewed his defence of Russia's contacts with the radical Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas.

'In order to continue dialogue, no one should be isolated,' he said.

Israel has on several occasions threatened to boycott the Moscow peace conference should Hamas or the Lebanese radical Islamist organization Hezbollah take part.