Quartet calls for undeterred progress of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks

Mideast peace quartet meets with Livni, Erekat in NY; quartet urges parties to "refrain from actions that undermine trust."

Mideast quartet meeting Sept 2013 370 (photo credit: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)
Mideast quartet meeting Sept 2013 370
(photo credit: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)
The Quartet of Middle East peace mediators on Friday called on Israelis and Palestinians to exert all possible efforts in promoting conditions on the ground in support of peace talks to reach an agreement withing the coming year.
The foursome of peacemakers - the US, Russia, the EU and the UN - met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York and were joined by Israel's chief negotiator Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat and quartet special envoy Tony Blair.
The Quartet in a statement said it urged the parties "to refrain from actions that undermine trust or prejudge final status issues."
The peace mediators commended the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in light of their efforts since peace negotiations resumed in July.
At the onset of the renewed round of talks, the Israelis and Palestinians agreed to a nine-month framework for reaching a final-status agreement to end their long-running conflict.
The Quartet agreed to continue meeting regularly to report on the progress of negotiations and initiate support for building a positive climate for peace.
During the meeting, Blair briefed the delegates on the economic initiative he is leading for the Palestinian economy that was proposed to supplement the diplomatic process.
Quartet representatives present at the meeting included UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, US Secretary of State John Kerry, High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union Catherine Ashton.