UNITED NATIONS, January 4 (Itar-Tass) – The members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) have failed to work out the text of a statement on the situation in the Middle East, Jean-Maurice Ripert, UNSC President in January, and France’s UN Ambassador, told journalists on Saturday at the close of the UNSC emergency consultations.

Those had been called in view of Israeli forces’ invasion of the Gaza Strip.

The French diplomat said that during the Council meeting the UNSC members had agreed that it is necessary to ensure a ceasefire as soon as possible and make every effort towards improving the humanitarian situatio in Gaza, as well as to resume peace talks. At the same time Ripert emphasized that he conveyed only the opinion of UNSC members to the journalists. However, the text of an official statement was not fixed, he said.

Meanwhile, a source at the UNSC said the adoption of a statement, on which the Libyan delegation had insisted, had been opposed by the US delegation. The source said that during the discussion of the draft statement on the situation in Gaza, the American diplomats, for reasons known only to them, were unwilling to approve the text of a statement which is passed exclusively on the strength of a consensus.