Russian, Israeli presidents to discuss Mideast settlement, Iranian standoff

September 24th, 2009 Israel hails US call for talks without conditionsJERUSALEM — Israel's prime minister welcomed Thursday President Barack Obama's call for the resumption of Mideast peace talks without preconditions despite Palestinian demands for a halt to new Jewish settlements in the West Bank before any new negotiations begin. In the past, Obama had said all Israeli building must stop on lands the Palestinians claim for a future state.

September 18th, 2009 US envoy in new try to revive Mideast peace talksJERUSALEM — The U.S. Mideast envoy is pressing on with efforts to revive Mideast peace talks and extract Israeli concessions on settlements.

September 18th, 2009 Palestinian official: US envoy ends shuttleRAMALLAH, West Bank — A Palestinian official says the U.S. Mideast envoy has ended his latest shuttle without agreement on terms for renewed peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

September 16th, 2009 Russia, BONY to sign settlementMOSCOW — Russia's Finance Minister says terms have been reached for an out-of-court settlement of a $22.5 billion Russian government lawsuit against Bank of New York Mellon and that the agreement is to be signed soon. The two-year-long case stems from a decade-old scandal in which a bank vice president and her husband were convicted of illegally wiring $7.5 billion of Russian money into accounts at the bank.

September 2nd, 2009 Obama envoy to resume talks in Mideast next weekWASHINGTON — The State Department says former Sen. George Mitchell, who is the Obama administration's special envoy for Mideast peace, will return to the region next week for another round of talks aimed at setting the stage for a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

August 28th, 2009 Egypt: Israeli freeze must include east JerusalemSTOCKHOLM — Egypt's foreign minister says east Jerusalem must be included in a freeze of Israeli settlement activity before Middle East peace talks can restart. Ahmed Aboul-Gheit told reporters in Stockholm on Friday that Jerusalem is Arab "and it will continue to be so." He said the Arab world expects the area to be included in a moratorium on Israeli settlements.

August 18th, 2009 Russia, Israel set to discuss Mideast peace, IranMOSCOW — Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev is set to host Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres for talks expected to focus on the Middle East and the Iranian nuclear standoff. Russia aspires to host an international conference to discuss the Middle East peace process, and Medvedev and Peres are expected to discuss the issue during Tuesday's talks in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.

July 23rd, 2009 France grills Israeli ambassador over settlementsPARIS — France's Foreign Ministry questioned Israel's ambassador Thursday and demanded an immediate end to Jewish settlement building and freer movement in and out of Gaza. "An immediate freeze in settlements, including in east Jerusalem, is indispensable for preserving the two-state solution and allowing the resumption of negotiations," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier said.

July 20th, 2009 Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian fieldsNABLUS, West Bank — More than 30 Israeli settlers, some of them on horseback, set fire to fields and olive trees and stoned Palestinian cars during a rampage in the West Bank on Monday, a Palestinian official said. Two Palestinians were lightly injured.

July 4th, 2009 Israeli defense minister, Mitchell to meet againJERUSALEM — An Israeli defense official says Defense Minister Ehud Barak is to hold a second round of talks with U.S. special Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell next week in an effort to resolve differences between the two sides on Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

July 4th, 2009 Barak, Mitchell to meet again on settlementsJERUSALEM — An Israeli defense official says Defense Minister Ehud Barak is to hold a second round of talks with U.S. special Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell next week in an effort to resolve differences between the two sides on Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

June 26th, 2009 Mideast Quartet urges Israel to halt settlementsTRIESTE, Italy — The Quartet of Mideast negotiators has called on Israel to freeze all settlement activity and to lift its blockade on the Gaza Strip. The Quartet — the United States, Russia, United Nations and European Union — met Friday on the sidelines of a meeting of the Group of Eight foreign ministers, who made a similar call for Mideast peace.

June 9th, 2009 US envoy begins Mideast peace pushJERUSALEM — U.S. envoy George Mitchell began a new swing through the Mideast on Tuesday with a call for a rapid resumption of peace talks, as the White House tried to push Israel to halt settlement construction in the West Bank.

June 9th, 2009 Itinerary announced for Carter's Middle East tripATLANTA — Former President Jimmy Carter's latest Mideast peacemaking trip will include a visit with the father of a captive Israeli soldier and a tour of a West Bank settlement. Carter is visiting Syria, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza in his effort to help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

April 27th, 2009 Abbas demands Israel halt building settlementsRAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has delivered a tough speech on peace-making with Israel, saying there's no way he'll resume negotiations without an Israeli settlement freeze. Abbas also said Monday that Israel is defined by the borders it had before the 1967 Mideast War and "not one centimeter more." In 1967, Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem — territories the Palestinians seek for their state.