The international community should put pressure...
"The question of creating an independent Palestinian state has been ripe for a long time," Semyon Bagdasarov, who is a member of the State Duma international affairs committee, said.
"The obstacle is the current stance of the Israeli leadership," he said, adding "in spite of contributing to the resolution of the issue, [it] took up a quite unconstructive position."
The expert, a member of A Just Russia party, said measures being taken against Israel are "insufficient".
"The international community has proved to be completely unable to put pressure on Israel - this is the crux," he said.
The issue of settlement construction in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, has been the main obstacle to reviving peace talks with the Palestinians.
Under the internationally agreed roadmap for Middle East peace, Israel is obliged to freeze construction and remove unauthorized outposts built since 2001 from the Palestinian territories.