Abbas welcomes proposal for Palestinian, Israeli, Russian summit

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed a Russian proposal for a trilateral meeting in Moscow including him, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Al Jazeera reported yesterday.

On Thursday, Abbas met with Putin at the Sochi resort in western Russia. He told Putin that solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be “impossible” without Moscow taking part in the peace process.

“It is impossible to solve the Palestinian issue without Russia’s meaningful participation in the peace process,” Abbas said. “That is what we have been emphasising at all international meetings,” Russian state news agency Tass reported the Palestinian leader as saying.

Meanwhile, Putin said:

Russia will continue to give its full support to the resumption of direct dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis…The peaceful coexistence of the two states is an indispensable condition to ensure genuine security and stability in this region.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a meeting with the PA’s chief negotiator Saeb Erekat last January that his country was ready to host a meeting between Abbas and Netanyahu.