Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday said he had finally secured support from all necessary parties to host a major Middle East peace summit in Moscow in the near future.
During a speech in Cairo, Medvedev said the Moscow conference would be an important step forward in securing a final status peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
Medvedev said his envisioned outcome of those talks is the birth of a Palestinian Arab state with the eastern half of Jerusalem as its capital.
In that way, his vision matches that of US President Barack Obama, though many see the intended Moscow summit as a Russian attempt to relieve the US of its leadership role in the Middle East.