Ahead of his visit to Russia on Wednesday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told Russian news agency RIA Novosti that he supports a Middle East peace conference to be held in Moscow. “I support initiative of the Russian government to hold a Moscow peace conference sometime in the near future,” Ban told RIA Novosti. Even though a date has not been set, Ban said that he “will certainly participate in the meeting.” “We must build upon this Annapolis peace process, but regrettably the situation which has developed on the ground has undermined the whole peace process at this time,” the secretary-general said. “While it is encouraging that the bilateral dialogue between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and [Palestinian] President Mahmoud Abbas has been continuing, at the same time, the situation taking place in the region has not been beneficial or encouraging to this ongoing peace process,” Ban added. “Therefore, if and when this Moscow conference is held, it will provide a very good opportunity for parties concerned to build upon and discuss in more depth how we can ensure peace and stability in the region,” the secretary-general said. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin of Russia, which held the U.N. Security Council's rotating presidency last month, told reporters on March 31 that Moscow would host a conference on the Middle East peace process, but said no date had been set. An envoy of the secretary-general on March 29 emphasized the need for Arab member states to maintain their commitment to the path of Middle East peace negotiations despite it “littered with daunting challenges” at the Arab League summit in Damascus.
