MOSCOW (AFP)--Russia on Sunday said it was "extremely concerned" by Israel's ground thrust into Gaza, and dispatched its Middle East envoy to the region to help bring about a ceasefire by both sides.
"The new dangerous escalation in the armed conflict after the start of the Israeli land operation in Gaza is a matter of extreme concern," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"It is essential, without delay, to put an end to the suffering of the civilian population on both sides, to stop the bloodshed and secure a mutual ceasefire," it said, adding that President Dmitry Medvedev's Middle East envoy, Alexander Saltanov, was going to the region.
"Among the measures urgently needed for the prevention of a large-scale humanitarian catastrophe in the sector is the lifting of the blockade and opening of checkpoints," the ministry said, referring to Israel's blockade of Gaza.
"Russia continues to seek this in contact with all interested parties," both in the United Nations Security Council and the diplomatic Quartet for Middle East peace, the statement said.
In a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Medvedev later "stressed the importance of reaching a ceasefire as quickly as possible," a Kremlin statement said.
In the UN Security Council and as a member of the Middle East Quartet, Russia will "continue to contribute to efforts by the international community to bring about a normalization of the situation in the region", Medvedev added.
Olmert took the initiative to call the Russian president.
An official in the foreign ministry's Middle East department told AFP that Saltanov had departed for talks in Israel and the Palestinian territories and would later visit the Syrian and Jordanian capitals.
Russia is a member of the diplomatic Quartet, along with the European Union, United Nations and the United States, as well as being a permanent UN Security Council member.
Russia has been seeking to host a Middle East conference, but the idea has so far failed to gain sufficient traction with Israel or the United States to go ahead.
Thousands of Israeli troops and scores of tanks pushed deep into Gaza on Sunday, battling Hamas fighters and moving towards the enclave's capital on a mission to end militant rocket attacks.
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Publié le 04 janvier 2009 Copyright © 2009 Dowjones