MOSCOW, Aug 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — 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 Tuesday, 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.
“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 Kremlin said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
Abbas is in Moscow on a long-expected visit until Wednesday and is to travel to Turkiye for talks with President Tayyip Erdogan afterwards.
Russia, which has forged close ties both with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Arab leaders including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has condemned the recent killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, calling on all parties to refrain from further destabilisation of the Middle East.
It has also repeatedly scolded the West for ignoring the need for an independent Palestinian state within 1967 borders. — NNN-AGENCIES
