Representatives of the quartet, who met Monday in Moscow, emphasized the need to step up diplomatic efforts in the coming few months to cease the opportunity created by the emergence of a new Palestinian leadership and the expected implementation of the Israeli disengagement plan.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the EU’s foreign policy chief Javier Solana and External Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner took part in the meeting.
‘We emphasize that this is a hopeful and promising moment for Palestinians and Israelis, they both deserve the full support of the international community,’ Annan told reporters after the meeting.
‘The quartet urges both parties to take steps to fulfil their obligations under the Road Map,’ he added
‘This is a time when we must seize the opportunity, an opportunity presented by the Palestinian elections and the new Palestinian authority, and by the coming Israeli withdrawal,’ Rice said.
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‘When we talk about these next four or five months, it is not because we do not have a bigger vision, it is because we see that we have an opportunity.’ She added.
