I have just spoken to Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi on the telephone and offered him my congratulations on this historic step. The normalisation of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates is an important contribution to achieving peace in the region. It is good that the Israeli Government has agreed to suspend its annexation plans.

We hope that this agreement will be the starting point for further positive developments in the region and that it can also inject fresh impetus into the Middle East peace process. We continue to maintain that only a negotiated two-state solution can bring lasting peace to the Middle East. Together with our partners in Europe and the region, we have been working intensively in recent months to prevent an annexation and to support the resumption of direct negotiations. We are also prepared to lend our active support to this process.