Primakov holds Israel responsible for process deadlock

Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov has asserted that his country is actively taking part in the Middle East peace process and is ready to contribute to solving the current crisis.

In a press conference he held in Moscow on Tuesday dedicated to evaluating Russia's foreign policy in 1997, Primakov attributed the halt of the peace process to Israel's shrugging off the implementation of signed agreements saying "Had Israel not refused to implement these agreements, the peace process would have positively developed and moved forward quickly."

Primakov did not rule out the possibility of mediating between the parties involved and cosponsors, adding that Russia will contact the European states, which he said "must actively participate in the Middle East peace process."

Primakov said that his country does not regret not participating in the current negotiations between the Palestinian president Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu because Russia "does not want to share failure with them."