Security Council members are optimistic that a key meeting next month on the Israel-Palestinian conflict will help revive the stalled peace process, Russia's UN ambassador said. The so-called quartet of Middle East peace brokers - the US, the European Union, Russia and the UN - will meet in Washington on Feb. 2 to explore ways of reinvigorating peacemaking.
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Thursday there was hope that the meeting would lead to a wider international conference to end the conflict. "There was a strong feeling that there were some signs of hope, which should be fully taken advantage of by the international community," Churkin told reporters after a Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East. |