Palestinian leader to visit Moscow in May
Abbas will discuss prospects for two-state solution, amid concern over US approach
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will visit Moscow in May to discuss the prospects of a two-state solution.
Abbas is planning his visit following the 28th Arab summit which will be hosted by Jordan from March 23-29, Russia’s Sputnik news agency reported.
Palestinian ambassador to Russia Abd al-Hafith Nawfal told the news agency that Abbas would also discuss the new US administration’s approach to peace negotiations.
The meeting comes amid concerns within the PA that US President Donald Trump will not push for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians but will instead work with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Gulf States to create and regional peace deal.
Russian news reports said President Vladimir Putin had invited both Abbas and Netanyahu to Moscow. The Abbas trip will follow Netanyahu’s upcoming trip.
Abbas last month rejected the idea of “temporary” and regional frameworks for solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which have been endorsed recently by the leaders of both Israel and the United States.
“It is impractical for the sake of peace and justice to discuss temporary solutions or merge the question of Palestine within the framework of regional affairs as the current Israeli government has attempted to do,” Abbas told the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.