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PA’s Abbas arrives in Moscow ahead of meeting with Putin

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12 August 2024, 1:28 pm 10 Edit

Gianluca Pacchiani is the Arab affairs reporter for The Times of Israel

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas pose for a photo at the Bocharov Ruchei residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, November 23, 2021. (Yevgeny Biyatov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas arrives in Moscow on an official visit at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The meeting between the two leaders is scheduled to take place tomorrow, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa. They are expected to discuss ways to support efforts to stop Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and to bring humanitarian aid into the Strip. The development of bilateral relations will also be on the agenda.

This is the PA president’s first visit to Moscow since 2021. In March, Moscow hosted unity talks between Fatah — Abbas’s secularist party, which dominates the West Bank-based PA — and rival Hamas. The Gaza-based Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group also participated in the talks.