Speaking after a meeting with Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaitė, the Israeli leader said he has hope of achieving the main goal of "a Jewish state by the name of Israel and an Arab state by the name of Palestine not fighting each other but living together in friendship and cooperation.”
“There is no alternative to peace," said Peres.
"Terror doesn't have a message, terror cannot bake bread and cannot offer fresh air to breathe. It's costly, it's useless, it doesn't produce anything. The Middle East may change if terror and crisis and hunger and unemployment and oppression will make place for a new age of economics, social affairs and our wish is to see all our neighbors living in peace and prosperity and friendship," Peres said.
“It is difficult but it is a must. And I think the peace process is an important step forward. I think we want to make peace not only with the Palestinians but with all the Arab countries," he added.
After meeting this week for the first time in three years, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators hope to reach the final peace accord within nine months.
During morning negotiations in the US on Monday morning, both countries agreed that all of the most disputed issues, such as borders, refugees and the fate of Jerusalem, would remain on the agenda.
Meanwhile, the Lithuanian president said that the EU currently presided by Lithuania applauds the start of the peace talks and is willing to help.
"We hope that the negotiations will have a positive outcome and lead to agreements, which will allow building two countries peacefully co-existing next to each other. Should such agreement be reached, the EU is willing to support post-conflict regulation and regulation of peace agreements," Grybauskaitė told Vilnius journalists.
