03 Nov 2021; MEMO: Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas is heading to Moscow soon in an attempt to revive the International Quartet for the peace process, spokesperson Nabeel Abu Rudeineh said yesterday.
According to the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, Abbas hopes that Russia will work on reviving the International Quartet.
Sama news agency reported Abu Rudeineh saying that Abbas is going to discuss the Palestinian issue with the Russian officials, but did not give more details about the nature of the discussions.
Palestinian-Russian relations are "very good and the Russian stance towards the Palestinian cause is similar to the Palestinian stance," the spokesperson said.
Abbas' visit to Moscow comes following reports that Russia is planning to carry out a round of discussions with the Palestinian leadership following the meeting held between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
Russia has previously attempted to arrange a meeting between Abbas and former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Abbas agreed, but Netanyahu refused to attend.
"There is continuous cooperation and Palestinian-Russian efforts to reactivate the International Quartet, but the US is not encouraged to be involved in such initiatives and prefers to wait, fearing that the Israeli coalition government would collapse," Asharq Al-Awsat reported, according to Sama.
