Russia ready to develop relations with future Israeli government - Lukashevich

MOSCOW, March 26 /TASS/. Russia is ready to develop beneficial and multi-dimensional ties with Israel’s future government in the spirit of traditional friendship and mutual respect, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told a briefing on Thursday. "We consider Israel to be a partner, which plays a considerable role in the international arena, and hope that the new Israeli cabinet will confirm adherence to a strategic choice in favour of resolving the Palestinian problem on the basis of universally recognized international laws. That could open the door for renewing the deadlocked process of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement, which contributes to peace and security in the Middle East," the Russian diplomat stressed. The Likud party of incumbent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has won the early elections to the Israeli Knesset /parliament/. The new cabinet of ministers will be formed before May 7 this year. Touching upon Iran’s nuclear programme and the next round of talks that started in Geneva on Thursday, Lukashevich said that prospects for reaching a political agreement were realistic. "According to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, our chief negotiator, and his "P5+1" partners /in the talks/, there are realistic prospects for reaching a political agreement, which could later be fixed by the foreign ministers," Lukashevich stressed adding that everything would depend on progress at the talks. "The probability is fairly great," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman stressed. A regular full-scale round of talks on Iran’s nuclear programme that started in Lausanne /Switzerland/ will last until March 29. Read more