Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting in Kazakhstan. Abbas told the Russian President that the Palestinian Authority (PA) does not trust the United States to be a moderator in future peace negotiations with Israel.
The two leaders met on Thursday, meeting on the sidelines of an international conference in Kazakhstan and marking the first in-person meeting between the pair since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Abbas told the Russian President: “We don’t trust America and you know our position. We don’t trust it, we don’t rely on it, and under no circumstances can we accept that America is the sole party in resolving a problem”. Abbas added that the PA would accept that the US could play a peace-making role “within the Quartet, since it is a great country, but we will never accept it as the only one”.
A spokesman for the PA said that the ongoing war in Ukraine was not discussed during the meeting. Putin told Abbas that the Russian position “on the Palestinian Israeli settlement is a matter of principle”, adding: “It is based on the fundamental decisions of the UN and does not change”. Putin also said Moscow has “always advocated a just settlement on an international legal basis”.
According to reports, Mr Abbas told Mr Putin that “we are very happy and satisfied with the Russian position”.
