Russian, Palestinian foreign ministers to discuss Middle East settlement on December 21 - diplomat

MOSCOW, December 13. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will discuss with Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad al-Maliki issues of the Middle East settlement, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Thursday. "On December 21, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold negotiations with Minister of Foreign Affairs [Riyad al-Maliki] of the State of Palestine. The negotiations are expected to focus on the current situation in the Palestinian-Israeli track, including in terms of the tasks to prevent the revision of the generally established global legal framework for the Middle East settlement," she said. "There are plans to thoroughly study the problems of the speediest restoration of Palestinian national unity, including support for the implementation of the corresponding intergovernmental agreement as of October 2017," the diplomat reported. "An exchange of opinions on ways to improve the socio-economic and humanitarian situation for Palestinians living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip will also take place." There are plans to study major issues on the bilateral agenda, including the implementation of the agreements reached after the third session of the Russian-Palestinian intergovernmental commission on trade-economic cooperation which was held on November 5-7 in Ramallah, Zakharova added. An agreement to reconcile the Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas was signed in Cairo in the autumn of 2017. The sides agreed that the government of national reconciliation will undertake powers on all Palestinian territories; the transfer to the authorities of control over the Rafah Border Crossing on the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip also had to take place. The factions later held several rounds of talks in the Egyptian capital on the establishment of a new government, the organization of elections, the reform of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the deployment of the Palestinian administration’s forces in Gaza. However, permanently arising disagreements led the process of the inter-Palestinian reconciliation to a dead end again. Read more