S/PV.4578 Security Council

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Security Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations. Following consultations among members of the Security Council, I have been authorized to make the following statement on behalf of the Council: “The Security Council supports the Joint Statement of the ‘Quartet’, annexed to this statement, which was issued in New York on 16 July 2002 by the Secretary-General, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, the Secretary of State of the United States, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, the High Representative for the European Union Common Foreign and Security Policy and the European Commissioner for External Affairs. The Security Council appreciates also the involvement in discussions with the ‘Quartet’ of senior representatives of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. “The Security Council calls upon the Government of Israel, the Palestinian Authority and all States in the region to cooperate with the efforts to achieve the goals set out in the Joint Statement and stresses the importance of, and the need to achieve, a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East, based on all its relevant resolutions including its resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 338 (1973) of 22 October 1973 and 1397 (2002) of 12 March 2002, the Madrid terms of reference and the principle of land for peace.” This statement will be issued as a document of the Security Council under the symbol S/PRST/2002/20. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda.