Abbas in Moscow to discuss larger Russia role with Putin
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has arrived in Moscow for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss an international multilateral mechanism for the so-called peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis in a bid to supplant the "biased" United States.
Palestinian Authority officials said Abbas aims to include Russia and other countries in any peace process with Israel in the wake of Washington’s pro-Israel policies.
“Russia and Putin can play an important role within the frame of an international forum for peace,” Abbas' diplomatic adviser, Majdi al-Khalidi said.
The meeting was initially slated to be held in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, but was moved following Sunday’s plane crash near Moscow that left 71 people dead.
It comes amid anger among Palestinians at US President Donald Trump’s latest hostile measures in favor of Israel, including his decision last December to recognize Jerusalem al-Quds as the “capital” of the regime and begin work to transfer Washington’s embassy from Tel Aviv to the occupied city.
Trump’s declaration prompted Abbas to formally declare that Palestinians would no longer accept the US as a mediator to resolve the decades-long conflict as Washington is “completely biased” towards Tel Aviv.
In response to Abbas’ position, the Trump administration said in January that it would withhold $65 million of a $125 million aid installment to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).