Abbas praises Russia's peace process role

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas opened his visit to Moscow today by expressing his high regard for Russia’s role in the Mideast peace process.

He told Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that he had done everything to make Moscow his first foreign destination following his election earlier this month.

“It shows the respect the Palestinian people feel toward the Russian people and it shows the important role that Russia plays on the world arena, above all in the Middle East, namely in the quartet, in which Russia is a most notable representative,” Abbas said.

The so-called quartet seeking Mideast peace also includes the United States, the United Nations and the European Union.

“I would like to personally congratulate you on being elected the head of Palestinian National Authority,” Lavrov told Abbas at the start of their meeting. “We’ll be supporting you and we’ll be actively developing Russia-Palestinian relations.”

Abbas was expected to meet later with President Vladimir Putin and with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexy II.

Abbas’ trip comes amid renewed hopes for peace after a sharp drop in violence between Israel and the Palestinians, and the Foreign Ministry said his talks with Lavrov would focus on peace efforts.

Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said that Abbas had begun resolute efforts to reform Palestinian power structures, including security agencies, and to stem extremist and terrorist activity, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

“The new Palestinian administration is working on the provision of order in the Palestinian territories and the containment of terrorists,” it quoted him as saying.

Yakovenko said topics at the talks would also include bilateral relations, Iraq and democratisation and reforms in the Middle East, ITAR-Tass reported.

The Palestinian envoy to Moscow, Khairi Al-Oridi, said that Palestinian leaders “are counting on the international community, including of course Russia, to convince Israel to fully reject the use of force and begin realisation of the provisions of the ‘road map’ plan” – the proposal sponsored by the quartet.

Russia has traditionally played a secondary role to Washington in Mideast peacemaking, despite its participation in the quartet. A Cold War-era supporter of the Palestinians, Moscow’s relations with Israel have improved significantly since the 1991 Soviet collapse.

Arab nations have expressed an interest in a stronger Russian role in the Middle East. Visiting Moscow last week, Syrian President Bashar Assad played up Russia’s clout on the world stage and won a write-off of most of his country’s multimillion-dollar debt to Moscow.

Abbas has visited Jordan and Egypt and is also to travel to Turkey and Switzerland.