Putin To Meet with Palestinian Authority President Abbas on Middle East Crisis
The Kremlin confirmed in a post on the messaging platform Telegram Monday evening that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will meet on Tuesday to discuss the war in Gaza and the broader Middle East crisis.
“It is expected that an exchange of views will be held on the situation in the Middle East in light of the current aggravation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip,” the statement read.
Abbas’s planned but long-delayed trip to Moscow was originally scheduled for November of last year, but Ramallah requested the trip be rescheduled due to the chaotic situation in Gaza and the West Bank.
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Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who serves as the Kremlin’s special envoy for the Middle East and Africa, greeted Abbas upon his arrival at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport on Monday with extensive coverage from Russian media outlets.
Abbas will also lay flowers at the country’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and meet with a series of Arab ambassadors while in Moscow, Palestinian Ambassador to Russia Abdel Hafiz Nofal told Russian state news agency TASS on Sunday.
The summit aligns with Russian efforts to establish itself as a key player in the Middle East, strengthen relations with regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia, and offer itself as an alternative to the US-led Western bloc.
The Kremlin denounced the assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh and publicly railed against the West for failing to facilitate the creation of a Palestinian state.
On Wednesday, Abbas will travel to Ankara to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
