Three days ago, while Abbas was on his way to Rome and world leaders were making their way to Paris, the Secretary-General of the PA was in Russia. While there, he confirmed that Abbas is "ready" for face-to-face negotiations — in Moscow. Russia's government-owned news agency, TASS, reports.✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡
MOSCOW (TASS) Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has confirmed his readiness to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Moscow. This, as per remarks by the Secretary-General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee Saeb Erekat, on Friday, 13 January.
"Mahmoud Abbas earlier declared his readiness to take part in these talks in Moscow, and we confirm it today," Erekat said Friday.
Earlier, Russia's top diplomat, Sergey Lavrov, confirmed that Moscow will host talks between the leaders of Israel and Palestine when both sides are ready.
"We were ready to receive the leaders of Israel and Palestine in Moscow back in September last year, and we are ready now when they can confirm their readiness," Lavrov said.
Russia’s top diplomat stressed that the need for direct talks between Israel and Palestine for achieving peaceful settlement is "long overdue."
Lavrov noted that Russia traditionally has a stance on the Middle East settlement that is based on the decisions of the UN Security Council. "You know this position very well," he added.
He also stressed the importance of restoring the Palestinian unity to promote peace process.
"We are ready to provide all the necessary organizational support to the meeting of representatives of Palestinian movements held on the basis of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences," Lavrov said.
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This is a lightly edited version of the original article published by TASS Russian News Agency at http://tass.com/world/924876
