Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is ready for three-way talks with Israel in Russia in case of the relevant initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin, presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th February, 2019) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is ready for three-way talks with Israel in Russia in case of the relevant initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin, presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said on Wednesday.
Ahead of the current visit to Moscow, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would have been ready for the talks with the Palestinian party, if there had been a Palestinian leader to meet with.
"This is not true at all ... President Putin previously arranged a meeting with Netanyahu in Moscow and the president [Abbas] has agreed to attend but Netanyahu evaded it ... President Abbas is always ready to accept President Putin's call for such a meeting at any time with the current premier or any other future Israeli prime minister who will assume that post after the elections in order to achieve the just and lasting peace," Rudeineh said, as quoted by the WAFA news agency.
The relations between Israel and Palestine have been shattered for decades. Palestinians seek diplomatic recognition for their independent state on the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which is partially occupied by Israel, and the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli government refuses to recognize Palestine as an independent political and diplomatic entity, and builds settlements on the occupied areas, despite objections from the United Nations.
In November, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that Moscow was ready to provide a venue for top-level talks between Israel and Palestine.
