18 April 2016•Update: 22 April 2016
MOSCOW
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday threw his country’s support behind Palestinian efforts to create a lasting settlement with Israel, local media said.
His remarks came during a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Moscow.
“I know that you are making strenuous efforts to facilitate the settlement process and, of course, we will support your efforts aimed at activating everything that is necessary for launching a constructive dialogue,” Putin said, according to the state-run TASS news agency.
Abbas voiced support for a French-sponsored international conference on a Middle East settlement and said Palestinian authorities had been trying to reach a settlement with Israel on a two-state solution within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state, TASS reported.
Under international law, the West Bank and East Jerusalem are deemed as occupied territories captured by Israel in the 1967 war and all Israeli settlements are illegal.
