Kazakhstan calls for Middle East Peace Process resumption during UNSC session

ASTANA. KAZINFORM The representatives of Kazakhstan took part in the emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the status of Jerusalem, the Kazakh MFA press service reports.

Nickolay Mladenov, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Personal Representative of the Secretary-General, briefed the Security Council.

"Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the United Nations Kairat Umarov pointed out that Kazakhstan's stance on the Middle East Peace Process remains unchanged. Kazakhstan stands for a speedy resumption of negotiations, especially in a bilateral format and without any preconditions. It is necessary to facilitate the peace process pursuant to the UN Security Council resolutions, the Madrid Principles, the Roadmap for Peace, and the Arab Peace Initiative," the press service says.

The delegation of Kazakhstan underscored that there is no alternative to the formula of 'two states for two peoples'. Kazakhstan supported the statement made by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on 7 December that Jerusalem is a 'final status' issue that must be resolved through direct negotiations between the two parties upon the respective resolutions of the Security Council and the UN General Assembly, taking into account the legitimate concerns and aspirations of both Palestinian and Israeli sides.

Kazakhstan is fully supportive of the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the establishment of an independent state within the 1967 international borders with East Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent Palestine.