RIYADH/BEIJING: Saudi Arabia demands the start of a serious and comprehensive peace process to establish a Palestinian state along the borders of 1967, Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman told a virtual summit of the BRICS group on Tuesday.

“The Kingdom’s position is constant and firm; there is no way to achieve security and stability in Palestine except through the implementation of international decisions related to the two-state solution,” Prince Mohammed said.

Riyadh was invited to the join the BRICS bloc earlier this year.

Xi calls for ‘international peace conference’

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping also called for an “international peace conference” to resolve the conflict between Israel and Hamas, as he addressed a virtual summit of fellow BRICS leaders.

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“There can be no sustainable peace and security in the Middle East without a just solution to the question of Palestine,” Xi said, speaking through an interpreter.

“China calls for an early convening of an international peace conference that is more authoritative to build international consensus for peace,” he said.

Such a conference would, Xi added, “work toward an early solution to the question of Palestine that is comprehensive, just and sustainable”.

“Since the outbreak of the latest Palestinian-Israeli conflict, China has been working actively to promote peace talks and a ceasefire,” he said.