Tunisia: Agencies
A source in the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied what was published by a television channel’s website about Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar’s announcement of a Tunisian peace initiative between Palestine and Israel.

The source said in a statement to Tunis Africa News Agency on Tuesday that the Minister of Foreign Affairs did not raise this issue at all in his meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov or during the joint press conference.

He stressed that Tunisia's position on the Palestinian issue is clear and consistent and was expressed by the President of the Republic on all occasions.

He stressed that the Minister of Foreign Affairs is active in defending this position in all regional and international forums, as well as in his meetings with his foreign counterparts.

Al-Arabi channel had published a news story in which it attributed a statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nabil Ammar, about making efforts to resume Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, based on the Arab Peace Initiative.

Later in broadcasting the news, the channel apologized for the mistake it had made, explaining that the statement was made by the Russian Foreign Minister during a joint press conference with his Tunisian counterpart.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia will continue its efforts to resume direct negotiations between Palestine and Israel, as this is the only way to implement UN resolutions.

Lavrov added in a press conference following his talks with the Tunisian Foreign Minister: “We will continue to strive and make efforts to resume direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. This is the only way to implement existing United Nations resolutions.”

The Russian Foreign Minister pointed out the difficulty of achieving long-term improvement of the situation in the entire Middle East region without resolving the Palestinian issue on the known international legal basis.

On Tuesday afternoon, discussions began in the Russian capital, Moscow, between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Tunisian Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar, who is on a working visit to Russia.