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Middle East Quartet to Meet More Frequently

State: Steinmeier and Rice talked before the Quartet meeting.*

The support of the Quartet for the peace effort in the Middle East is an ongoing process, and a resolution to conflict in the region will not be found in one day, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Friday in Washington, where he took part in a meeting of the Middle East Quartet at the State Department. Steinmeier announced that soon after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s meeting with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the Quartet would come together again at the foreign minister level in Berlin.

Table: Representatives of the EU, Russia, UN and US met in the Thomas Jefferson Room. *(click to enlarge)

“This is not a one-time meeting,” Steinmeier said afterward. “We have set in motion a work process.” The Quartet—United Nations, European Union, United Sates and Russia—is to meet more frequently at the foreign minister level to give support to the peace effort.

“The Quartet expressed the hope that the result-oriented dialogue initiated between Israeli and Palestinian leaders will continue in the framework of a renewed political process with the aim of launching meaningful negotiations,” according to the statement issued by the Quartet. The Quartet also “affirmed the primacy of the Roadmap and welcomed US efforts to accelerate progress on the Roadmap,” according to the statement.

Statement: Quartet members spoke to the press before continuing their discussion over lunch.**

The Quartet last met at the foreign minister level in September 2006. Foreign Minister Steinmeier and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced this meeting when Rice was in Berlin on January 17.

Foreign Minister Steinmeier represented the EU Council Presidency. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon participated. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hosted the meeting at the State Department. Also attending were EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana and EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

Bilateral discussions

Before meeting with the other members of the group, Foreign Minister Steinmeier and Secretary Rice met one on one. The day ahead would be a very important one, Steinmeier said after their talk, not only for the Quartet but also for the people in the region. They want to see results, Steinmeier said, “to see us extend support, to continue the process of rapprochement that has begun between Prime Minister Olmert and Mr. Abbas.” The Quartet meeting would “send out a signal” that the international community is ready to do everything it can to help settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It would also help outline a political framework that would make the aim of establishing a Palestinian state a reality.

Links

Middle East Quartet Statement - Washington DC
(February 2, 2007)

Quartet to Meet in February, Steinmeier and Rice Announce

Common Interest in Resolution of Middle East Conflict

Foreign Office Information on the Middle East

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