Solana calls for more substance in Israeli-Palestinian talks
24 September 2007, 16:43 CET
(UNITED NATIONS) - EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana called Sunday for more substance in talks on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, ahead of an international peace conference planned for November.
Speaking ahead of talks in New York by members of the so-called Middle East quartet on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, Solana said it was essential that progress was made.
"The issues that are fundamental have been stated already many, many times," Solana said as the members of the quartet -- the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia -- began two hours of talks.
"We have to go beyond the mere stating of the issues and try to put some more meat on every issue," he said.
"Water, borders, security, Jerusalem, refugees -- those are the fundamental issues that have to be resolved at the end of the day," he said, adding: "We can not afford a failure."
"Without any doubt, it would be going back several years. We cannot afford that to happen," he added.
Sunday's talks involved UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the quartet's special envoy former British prime minister Tony Blair, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Blair was due to present his first report on the creation of a Palestinian state to the quartet, while Rice was expected to brief her counterparts on talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders during a recent trip the region.
Solana calls for more substance in Israeli-Palestinian talks
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