Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov promoted a Russian conference on the Middle East during a diplomatic working meeting with President Shimon Peres Sunday evening. The meeting also covered the Iranian nuclear threat, among other things.

At the outset of the meeting, Lavrov said the Moscow meeting - based on the 2008 Annapolis conference and the 2002 Saudi plan for Arab-Israeli peace - would be one way of insuring continuity in the peace process. He noted the need to give humanitarian aid to Gaza but without giving legitimacy to Hamas. The foreign minister said, "We have channels of communications with Hamas and we are pressuring them to come to the peace talks.

Regarding the Iranian nuclear program, Peres said a united front was needed, with a goal of keeping nuclear technology out of the hands of terrorists.