Russian-Palestinian Talks in Moscow to Discuss Reconciliation, Trump's Plan
Arab World
Moscow - Raed Jabr
Hamas delegation will arrive in Moscow on Sunday led by leader Ismail Haniyeh, marking the movement’s first visit to Russia in years, well-informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat. Member of Hamas’ politburo in Gaza Yahya Sinwar was supposed to join the visiting delegation, but he canceled the plan due to the recent security escalations with the Israeli occupation. The delegation is expected to hold talks with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, followed by a round of detailed discussions with the Deputy Minister and the Russian President's envoy to the Middle East region Mikhail Bogdanov. Hamas will also meet members of State Duma and the Federation Council, a number of government officials, as well as the Russian Muftis Council and the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow. The delegation’s visit was postponed several times over the last year because of the Palestinian Authority’s objections. The meeting between Russian and Palestinian parties came following several international developments, including the announcement of the US peace plan, the sources added, stressing that Washington's plan and the vision for the "post-plan era” will top the discussions during the expected meetings. They noted that Moscow also attaches great importance to the Palestinian reconciliation issue, the need to accelerate steps to overcome the current situation and enhance Palestinians’ unity. Lavrov previously stressed the importance of Palestinian unity in order to represent the Palestinians in any future negotiations, referring to the Israeli position which stated on several occasions that there was no Palestinian partner who can implement any agreement reached in Gaza and the West Bank together. Earlier, Russia hosted two rounds of negotiations between the Palestinian factions to no avail. The Palestinian parties failed last year to agree on a joint statement that Russia hoped could give a strong push in revitalizing Moscow’s move in the Palestinian issue. Back then, disputes arose over the issues of representing the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) to all Palestinians and some parties’ insistence on excluding East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state. This led to the withdrawal of some Palestinian factions without signing the final document, which sparked widespread discontent with Russia at the time. Moscow increased its contacts with the Palestinian leadership in the recent period after a visit of the President’s advisor Nabil Shaath’s. Lavrov also held talks with Fatah leader Hussein al-Sheikh on the same issues. Russian sources indicated that Moscow wants Palestinian parties to adopt unified positions, thus strengthening its position to offer an alternative to deal with the proposed US plan. At the same time, Moscow is working on its efforts to support various Palestinian institutions to face the financial crisis and amounting pressures, according to the sources.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2157016/russian-palestinian-talks-moscow-discuss-reconciliation-trumps-plan
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