MOSCOW: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has called on Israel and Palestine to refrain from actions capable of provoking further degradation of the situation in the zone of the conflict between the two states, the Russian foreign ministry said on Sunday, reports TASS. 

"Lavrov called on the Israeli and Palestinian partners to demonstrate utmost responsibility and refrain from any actions capable of provoking further degradation of the situation," the ministry said after Lavrov’s phone calls with his Israeli and Palestinian counterparts, Eli Cohen and Riyad al-Maliki, which were held on January 28 and 29, respectively.

According to the ministry, it "was an open and sincere exchange of views on the prospects for the development of the situation in the Middle East region with a focus on the problems of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement. Sergey Lavrov stressed the acute necessity of the resumption of the efforts of the Quarter of international mediators to relaunch the negotiating process between the Israeli and Palestinian sides on the basis of international law as soon as possible."

The Russian top diplomat offered condolences over the civilian casualties in the recent escalation.

Apart from that, the ministers discussed a range of issues on the bilateral agendas and reiterated readiness to develop comprehensive mutually beneficial cooperation, the ministry added.