Russia welcomes Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire, calls for direct negotiations

Moscow [Russia], May 21 (ANI/Sputnik): Russia welcomes the Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire but believes this important step is insufficient, as it is necessary to launch direct negotiations, the Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova said on Friday.
"Moscow notes with deep satisfaction that on May 21, at 2 am, the ceasefire in the zone of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict entered into force," Zakharova said at a briefing.
"In order to avoid a further spiral of violence, an important but still insufficient step was taken. At this stage, in order to prevent a relapse of confrontation, international and regional efforts should focus on creating appropriate conditions for restarting direct political negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians in order to resolve a set of fundamental issues related the final status, based on the UN resolution and the two-state principle," Zakharova continued.
Moscow calls on its partners from the UN Security Council and the Middle Eastern Quartet to "continue vigorous collective effort to resume direct constructive Palestinian-Israeli dialogue," the spokeswoman added.
Last week, this new episode of Israeli-Palestinian conflict broke out after the civil unrest in East Jerusalem, prompting hostilities on the border of Israel and the Gaza Strip, with Palestinian militants having launched approximately 3,700 rockets against Israel, which retaliated with airstrikes, Sputnik reported.
Both sides have been firing rockets at each other, leading to 217 Palestinians and 12 Israelis dead. (ANI/Sputnik)