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Several countries seek to hold Palestinian-Israeli talks: official

Xinhua, August 25, 2016 Adjust font size:

Palestinian Foreign Minister said on Wednesday that several countries, including Russia, seek to hold Palestinian-Israeli talks.

Riad Al-Malki, the Palestinian foreign minister, told the official Palestinian radio station that several states are seeking to host preparatory meetings for Israeli and Palestinian officials in order to pave the way ahead of an international peace conference, but he named none other than Russia.

Al-Malki said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is exerting efforts to hold such a meeting in Moscow, but others are also exerting parallel efforts.

"The Palestinian leadership is not against any of those meetings, but they must be prepared very well. It must also be accompanied by an Israeli decision to halt settlement activity in the Palestinian areas and honour its commitment to releasing the fourth batch of veteran Palestinian prisoners imprisoned by Israel since before 1993," he said.

The top Palestinian diplomat said the Palestinian leadership will not attend meetings that Israel would use for media or political consumption, but would only agree to join meetings that would serve the efforts for the international peace conference.

Egypt's President Sisi told journalists on Monday that Putin is willing to extend an invitation to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold direct talks.

Sisi said Egypt backs such efforts that urge to push the peace process and positively interact with such efforts.

Russian Special Presidential Envoy and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov met with Abbas in Amman last Wednesday, according to the Palestinian official news agency WAFA.

Bogdanov gave Abbas a written letter on behalf of Putin discussing peace efforts and developments in the region.

Paris hosted an international ministerial meeting on June 3, attended by the foreign ministers of 25 countries, including four Arab countries, which debated the revival of the stalled peace process between Israel and Palestine.

The peace talks between Israel and Palestine have been stalled since April 2014. The U.S.-sponsored talks that lasted for nine months achieved no tangible results. Endit