RUSSIA, February 2, 2008 (WAFA)- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it is hardly possible to spur on peace settlement without ending the blockade of Gaza Strip.

"It is hardly possible to make real progress towards peace without the soonest lift of the blockade of the sector, an improvement of living conditions on all the lands of the Palestinian National Authority, and the end of terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians," Lavrov was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

"It is important to overcome the Palestinian split, which complicates the achievement of agreements on key issues of the Israeli-Palestinian agenda," he said.

A real move towards peace would not be possible while Israel continues blockading food and fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip, and Palestine carries out almost daily rocket attacks on Israeli border regions, Lavrov was quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency as saying during a telephone conference of the Middle East Quartet of mediators -- the United States, Russia, the UN and the European Union.