Israel and Palestinians have failed so far to create conditions for the resumption of direct peace talks, the Egyptian foreign minister said.
Ahmed Aboul Gheit attended on Sunday separate back-to-back meetings held by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell.
"Egypt believes there is the need for direct talks, that they are the road to reach a settlement ... but to have these direct talks, the atmosphere must be ripe and enough progress made," Gheit told reporters in Cairo.
RIA Novosti
