Nunu welcomes Lavrov’s call for ending siege & settlement building

Taher Al-Nunu, the PA caretaker government”s spokesman, has welcomed Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov”s call on Israel to end the Gaza blockade and to stop building settlements on Palestinian occupied lands.

“This is a positive step on the part of Russia and we hope that other countries will adopt similar positions and end the siege imposed on the Palestinian people,” Nunu added.

Lavrov had told a joint press conference held with PA chief Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Friday that the suffocating siege on the Gaza Strip must end in order to let the people live a normal life.

He also expressed his country”s concern with the continued Israeli settlement drive in Palestinian occupied lands, and asked for its immediate stop.

The Russian chief diplomat said that his country was preparing for a Middle East peace conference to be held in Moscow later this year to follow up implementation of the Annapolis conference”s agreements.

Russia is interested in maintaining the peace process, he said, adding that it would extend all possible assistance in this regard to the Palestinian side.

Lavrov had met with Khaled Mishaal, the supreme leader of the Hamas Movement, in Damascus on Wednesday for a discussion of Palestinian developments. He told a Russian TV channel that contacts with Hamas would continue in a bid to restore Palestinian cohesion.