4 quartet urges undeterred progress of Israeli Palestinian peace talks

The Quartet of Middle East peace mediators 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 within 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 Quartet agreed to continue meeting regularly to report on the progress of negotiations and initiate support for building a positive climate for peace. 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.