Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said here Thursday he still favoured direct peace talks with the Palestinians, even if prospects for resuming them grew feebler this week.
"It is very important that the dialogue between us and the Palestinians continues," Lieberman said after talks with his Bulgarian counterpart Nikolay Mladenov.
"Nothing can replace direct negotiations. We believe in direct negotiations," he added.
Lieberman's statement came just a day after the United States admitted defeat in its efforts to secure an Israeli freeze on West Bank settlement building, a key condition of the Palestinians for resuming peace talks.
An earlier 10-month-long moratorium on settlement building agreed in November 2009 had not produced "any positive results," Lieberman said Thursday.
"We did not see any positive results after these ten months. The Palestinians wasted time without any real progress (being made) and today I really do not see even one reason why we need to extend this moratorium," he said.
Lieberman also defended Israel's Gaza Strip blockade, despite a decision on Wednesday to ease exports of certain goods from the Hamas-ruled territory.
"The restrictions imposed on Gaza resulted from the illicit import of arms, which threatens Israel's national security," Lieberman said.
But he added the European Union "could participate more actively in security issues" in the region.
"Our major problem is contraband and the EU could be quite helpful," he said without elaborating.
Israeli and Palestinian officials are expected to visit Washington next week for separate talks with the US administration on ways to keep the peace process alive, while the Middle East will also top the agenda of the upcoming EU foreign affairs council on December 13.
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