Brussels, 27/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 26 January, the Middle East Quartet envoys (USA, Russia, United Nations and European Union) underlined “the importance of convening a meeting of the Quartet principals as soon as possible”. The principals are the Russian and US foreign affairs ministers, the high representative of the EU and the UN secretary general.
In their press release, at the end of a meeting in Brussels, in which they shared their assessment of the political vision for the region and the outlook for relaunching the peace process, the envoys explored the role that the Quartet could play in supporting the resumption of “meaningful” negotiations with the aim of achieving a comprehensive peace agreement based on a two-state solution. “They noted in this regard the importance of engaging closely with their Arab partners”, the press release states.
The envoys underlined the urgency of improving the “dire” humanitarian situation in Gaza. “Every effort should be made to encourage the fulfilment of pledges of assistance made at the Cairo conference on the reconstruction of Gaza” in October 2014 (see EUROPE 11175), they said. On Tuesday 27 January, the United Nations announced the suspension of its financial aid for the repair of houses in Gaza, criticising the fact that the pledges of aid had not been honoured. (CG)