Israeli and Palestinian officials asked the international community on Sunday to support their talks under the U.S.-backed Annapolis process despite the expectation there will be no deal this year, BBC reported.
The Quartet of Middle East peace mediators, which held joint talks with both sides on Sunday in Egypt, voiced support for the process and suggested the spring of 2009 could be an "appropriate time" for an international peace meeting in Moscow.
The talks launched by President George W. Bush nearly a year ago at a conference in Annapolis, Maryland have been hobbled from the start by violence and bitter disputes over Jewish settlement building and the future of Jerusalem.
"They asked that the international community support the parties' sustained efforts in the framework of the Annapolis process," the Quartet said in a statement read by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
"The Quartet emphasized the importance of continuity of the peace process," he said.