Russia proposes Middle East conference in Moscow
Reuters
Date: 04-27-05
TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday proposed a Moscow peace summit to try to end decades of Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but immediately met resistance from the United States and Israel.
Putin made the proposal in Cairo before arriving on the first visit to Israel by a Kremlin leader. He made a midnight visit to Jerusalem's Western Wall, the most sacred site of Jewish prayer, the Kremlin said.
He went to the site after visiting a Russian Christian pilgrimage centre that was due to be his last public stop for the day.
A Kremlin spokesman said on the visit to the Western Wall Putin met a rabbi who gave him an album illustrating that part of Jerusalem.
Putin's proposal for a Moscow peace summit won backing from Palestinians but Israel was wary, saying it would oppose any effort to circumvent the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan.
Putin, speaking in Egypt alongside President Hosni Mubarak, gave few details of the proposal for the autumn summit but said Russia would start contacts to discuss the agenda. He said Middle East peace should be based on U.N. resolutions and the road map.
"I intend to discuss this idea with my other colleagues who are interested in moving the peace process forward in the Middle East," he said. He would talk about it with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, he added.
But Washington objected to the timing.
"We believe there will be an appropriate time for an international conference, but we are not at that stage now and I don't expect that we will be there by the fall," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
Palestinians said the summit would help prepare for final peace negotiations following a ceasefire agreement and a planned Israeli withdrawal this summer from Gaza and part of the West Bank.
"We will commit and we hope it will take place," said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose election in January to replace the late Yasser Arafat raised hopes for peacemaking.
ROAD MAP
A senior Israeli official said Israel was wary about Putin's proposal but "not against it in principle", emphasising that Israeli commitment to the road map for a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza alongside a secure Israel.
Under that plan, Palestinians are meant to dismantle militant groups while Israel freezes Jewish settlement growth.
"We appreciate President Putin's commitment to the 'road map.' Russia is a valued member of the quartet," McClellan said, referring to the group of Middle East peace mediators -- the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations.
"We all need to do what we can to support the Palestinian leaders as they move forward to put the institutions in place for a viable democracy to emerge," he added.
Russia has often criticised Israel's handling of a Palestinian uprising since 2000 and Israel has always made clear that it was happy having its U.S. ally as by far the most important Middle East peace broker.
Both Israel and Russia hailed Putin's visit as a landmark. He was due to meet Sharon on Thursday before travelling a day later to the West Bank city of Ramallah for talks with Abbas.
In Israel, Putin was expected to come under pressure over Russia's planned arms sales to Syria and nuclear assistance to Iran -- both arch foes of the Jewish state.
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