White House Is ‘Deeply Disappointed’ That Abbas Told Putin He Doesn’t Trust US

The White House is “deeply disappointed” that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told Russian President Vladimir Putin that he mistrusts the Biden Administration, a spokesperson for the US National Security Council said in a statement over the weekend. “Putin is a far cry from the type of international partner needed to constructively address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” the spokesperson said. Abbas told Putin that the Palestinians do not trust America and that the US cannot mediate on its own between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, during a meeting last week on the sidelines of an international conference in Kazakhstan. “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 told Putin, according to a report by Axios on Saturday. Abbas also said that the US can still play a peacemaking role “within the Quartet since it is a great country, but we will never accept it as the only one.” He reportedly told Putin that he is “happy and satisfied with the Russian position” on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and that “Russia stands by justice and international law and that is enough for us.” Abbas’ comments come a week after US national security adviser Jake Sullivan hosted PLO Secretary-General Hussein al-Sheikh, said to be a possible successor to Abbas, at the White House. During his trip to Washington, al-Sheikh also met with several other US officials.