Further Iran sanctions ruled out

Six countries discussing how to deal with Iran's nuclear programme have agreed not to impose further sanctions on Tehran. The new resolution was proposed by Moscow and has been submitted to the UN Security Council.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said the resolution confirms previous decisions made by the UN and calls on Iran to fulfill them.

Meanwhile, the Middle East Quartet mediating the peace process in the region didn't provide any concrete information on any further steps.

Russia and its colleagues from the European Union, the UN and the U.S. have called on Israel and the Palestinian Authority to conclude a peace agreement by the end of this year, saying an early deal is possible.

There's been harsh criticism that the peace process is failing because of Israeli settlement activity.

Russia has called on Israel to stop building settlements on occupied Palestinian territories.