Russia on Wednesday came out against the International Court of Justice (ICJ) examining a protest about the controversial Israeli-built security barrier in the West Bank.
"This type of activity does not contribute to the regulation" of the Mideast conflict, Deputy Foreign Minister Yury Fedotov said.
It "does not create a positive atmosphere for the resumption of dialogue and co-operation on the basis of the 'road map,'" Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.
Diplomats in Brussels said on Tuesday that the European Union thought it "inappropriate" for the UN to refer the protest over the barrier to the ICJ.
"The EU expressed the belief that the request for an advisory opinion is inappropriate," said a source with the EU's current Irish presidency, adding that it "won't help efforts .. to re-launch a political dialogue."
Palestinians says the route of the barrier, which at points juts deep into their territory, proves it is little more than a bid to pre-empt the borders of their promised state and grab some of its most fertile land.
But Israel insists it is merely designed to prevent attacks on its soil, such as the suicide bombing of a bus in Jerusalem on Thursday which left 12 people dead as well as the Palestinian bomber.
The ICJ is scheduled to rule on the issue on February 23, after the UN General Assembly asked the court to pronounced on the issue following an Arab resolution.
Israel has said it hopes the court will decline to debate the legality of the barrier on grounds that it is not the appropriate forum in which to discuss what is an essentially political issue.
Russia, along with the EU, the United Nations and the United States, is one of the co-sponsors of the so-called "roadmap" plan for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which envisions a Palestnian state alongside a secure Israel by 2005.
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