two-week ceasefire<\/a> in Washington\u2019s war with Iran after talks with Tehran in Pakistan failed to achieve a breakthrough.<\/p>\nTuesday\u2019s meeting in Washington, the first high-level direct talks since 1993, was mediated by Rubio and involved the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a historic opportunity,\u201d Rubio said as he welcomed the ambassadors, acknowledging the \u201cdecades of history\u201d complicating the process.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hope today is that we can outline a framework upon which a current and lasting peace can be developed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lebanon\u2019s President Joseph Aoun had said he hoped the talks \u201cwill mark the beginning of the end of the suffering of the Lebanese people.\u201d<\/p>\n
A State Department spokesperson said afterward that discussions were \u201cproductive,\u201d adding: \u201cAll sides agreed to launch direct negotiations at a mutually agreed time and venue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Israeli ambassador Yechiel Leiter said the two sides \u201chad a wonderful exchange.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe discovered today that we\u2019re on the same side,\u201d he told reporters, saying both countries were \u201cunited in liberating Lebanon\u201d from Hezbollah.<\/p>\n
In a statement of her own, Lebanese Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad called the meeting \u201cconstructive,\u201d but said she had also called for a ceasefire and insisted on \u201cthe full sovereignty of the state over all Lebanese land,\u201d among other issues.<\/p>\n
Israeli forces are currently occupying parts of Lebanon\u2019s south, and its government has resisted considering any ceasefire until Hezbollah is dismantled.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said his country was seeking \u201cpeace and normalisation\u201d with the Lebanese state, but said Hezbollah was the key problem and \u201cneeds to be addressed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before the meeting, Hezbollah\u2019s leader Naim Qassem had called for the negotiations to be scrapped and vowed to fight on.<\/p>\n
Foreign ministers from 17 countries, including Britain and France, urged both countries to seize the chance to bring lasting security to the region.<\/p>\n
The US State Department released a statement after the meeting saying the two sides had \u201cproductive discussions on steps toward launching direct negotiations\u201d.<\/p>\n
It set out each country\u2019s positions but did not say they had reached any common ground. \u201cAll sides agreed to launch direct negotiations at a mutually agreed time and venue,\u201d the statement \u200bsaid.<\/p>\n
\nAdditional input from Reuters<\/em><\/p>\n
\n
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