Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa Mikhail Bogdanov on Monday held talks with Austrian Ambassador Johannes Eigner in Moscow to discuss the situation in Syria and Libya as well as the Israeli-Palestinian settlement prospects, the Russian Foreign Ministry said
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd February, 2020) Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa Mikhail Bogdanov on Monday held talks with Austrian Ambassador Johannes Eigner in Moscow to discuss the situation in Syria and Libya as well as the Israeli-Palestinian settlement prospects, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"During the conversation, a comprehensive exchange of opinions took place on pressing issues of the Middle Eastern agenda with an emphasis on the situation in Syria and Libya as well as the prospects of the Israeli-Palestinian settlement, including in the context of the release of Washington's "deal of the century" and the reaction of the Arab League to it," the ministry said in a statement.
The so-called deal of the century is US President Donald Trump's take on the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has been in the works by his senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner for almost a year now. It was finally unveiled at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week and triggered backlash among the Muslim community, with Palestine in the forefront.
At the core of the solution is the legitimization of Israel's sovereignty over settlements in the West Bank and Jordan Valley with Jerusalem as its undivided capital, while the Palestinians would get a recognized sovereign state and $50 billion in economic assistance, as well as the eastern outskirts of the Holy City as a place to establish capital where the United States said it would then open an embassy.�
Jerusalem, which was occupied by Israel in the course of the Six-Day War in 1967, is currently a non-negotiable item for the Palestinians along with occupied territories in the West Bank and Jordan River Valley where Israel has been building its settlements. The Israeli government, in turn, has refused to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state and deems the expansion of its settlements legitimate, despite objections from the United Nations.
