Bilateral cooperation between PA and Russian Federation – Meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and PA President Abbas – Russian Federation Foreign Affairs Ministry press release/Non-UN document

Unofficial translation from Russian

PRESS RELEASE

Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov Meets with Head of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas 

181-31-01-2005

On January 31 Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov met with Head of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas, staying on an official visit to Moscow at the invitation of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.

Lavrov and Abbas discussed topical aspects of the situation in Palestinian-Israeli settlement, as well as a set of questions pertaining to bilateral cooperation. There were highly assessed and supported on the Russian side the efforts of the new PNA leadership to end Palestinian-Israeli confrontation as soon as possible and to transfer the conflict into the mainstream of political settlement on the basis of the Road Map, drawn up by the Quartet of international mediators, Russia, the US, EU and UN. A common interest was expressed in expanding bilateral cooperation, and a firm disposition to strengthen interaction in the interest of establishing peace in the Middle East. Agreement was reached to intensify the activities of the bilateral working committee on the Middle East, of which the co-chairmen are PNA Foreign Minister Nabil Sha'ath and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov.

January 31, 2005