Russia notes “progress” in normalization of ties between Israel and Arab countries, but says “the Palestinian problem remains acute.”
Russia said on Thursday it would be a “mistake” to think lasting peace in the Middle East could be secured without resolving the Israeli-Palestinian Arab conflict.
A statement from the Foreign Ministry quoted by AFP said Russia noted “progress” in the normalization of ties between Israel and several Arab countries but said that “the Palestinian problem remains acute.”
“It would be a mistake to think that without finding a solution to it that it will be possible to secure lasting stabilisation in the Middle East,” the statement added.
Moscow urged regional and global players to “ramp up coordinated efforts” to solve the issue.
“Russia is ready for such joint work,” including in the framework of the diplomatic Quartet of Middle East peace negotiators and in close coordination with the Arab League, the foreign ministry said.
The statement follows the signing ceremony for Israel’s deals with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates at the White House on Tuesday.
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that two other countries may soon join the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in recognizing Israel.
“Four or five” other Arab countries “want to come in” and normalize ties with Israel, he told a news conference, adding, “I talked to two of them yesterday and they are ready to try. You’re going to have a whole level of peace in the Middle East without blood all over the sand.”
The Palestinian Authority (PA) has denounced the Israel-UAE agreement signed last month. PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas described it as “a stab in the Palestinians’ back”. He has also said that no peace would be achieved in the region by bypassing the Palestinian Arabs in favor of normalization of relationships between the Arab states and Israel.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has in the past expressed a desire to host an Israeli-Palestinian Arab summit to revive the stalled peace talks between the sides, but nothing has materialized yet in this regard.
The Israel-PA peace process has been frozen since 2014, when PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas breached conditions of talks that were ongoing at the time by unilaterally joining international treaties and conventions.
The PA said in April it will ask Putin to support the holding of an international conference for peace in the Middle East.
Content retrieved from: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/287527.
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