United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon held telephonic discussions with key international partners on the Middle East on a joint approach to the new Palestinian unity government, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported today. United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov; Foreign Minister of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier; High Representative for European Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana and European Commissioner for External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner took part in the conference, which came ahead of Ban's own upcoming visit to the Middle East region.