Khalil Fleihan
Daily Star correspondent

Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud told a visiting Russian envoy on Monday that the Arab peace plan should serve as the basis for any international conference or meeting to resolve the Mideast crisis.
Speaking to reporters after receiving  Andre Vdovin, Hammoud said he had asserted that the Arabs were committed to a united position on the initiative at any gathering to be held in the summer.
As part of such a commitment, Hammoud announced that a special committee entrusted with following up resolutions adopted at an Arab summit held in Beirut in March would meet in Cairo on June 30.
In turn, Vdovin, who also saw Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, said the present situation was still very vague and “there is a race between a continuation of violence in the region and moving toward a political solution.”
“We in Russia believe the use of force is not a solution, as this (solution) should combine true security, political and economic tracks within the framework of an international (peace) conference,” he said. “It is important such a gathering should be held this summer, certainly on the basis of the Madrid formula, UN Security Council resolutions ­ both old and new ­ and the Beirut Arab summit initiative.
“We believe that the solution must be comprehensive, covering all countries concerned with a settlement and with participation, including naturally Syria and Lebanon,” he said.
“We also believe there are a lot of things which must be solved at present. We concentrate in all our contacts on the need to implement the latest Security Council resolutions, including an end to violence, Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) territories and a cessation of terrorist operations which harm the Palestine cause itself,” he said.
Describing the reform measures taken by the PA as a step in the right direction, Vdovin added that his country encouraged and welcomed any reforms “based on the Palestinian people’s aspirations and that are not imposed from abroad.”
Vdovin said consultations on convening an international conference had not yet been finalized and it was essential that a formula be “crystallized” and agreed upon by all sides before embarking on such a move.
He expressed support for convening the conference by the end of July but said that good preparations had to be made for the gathering “so that it may not be a mere event only to be later forgotten.”
Meanwhile, Yuri Zhdanov, deputy minister of economic development and trade, said he  was seeking Lebanon’s support for Russia’s application to stage the international fair Expo 2010.

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