Last update - 00:00 30/07/2007
Russian FM tells visiting Abbas he has Moscow's firm support
By News Agencies
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Monday that Moscow supports him in his conflict with Hamas.
"We firmly support you as leader of the entire Palestinian people," Lavrov told Abbas, making his first trip to Russia since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip.
Abbas, who arrived Sunday in Moscow, was also slated to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his three-day trip. The daily newspaper Kommersant reported that Abbas hoped to persuade Putin to give full support to his Fatah movement.
The PA chairman told Lavrov via an interpreter: "We have a lot to talk about. There is the question of Palestinian unity, there is the question of Middle East peace and the peace conference." He was referring to an international summit for advancing the peace process recently proposed by United States President George Bush.
Abbas spoke earlier in a Moscow interview that was aired by state television. "The most important thing that I will raise and discuss with President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov is the bloody overthrow that happened in Gaza," he said.
Abbas said he would also discuss conditions for holding an international conference on the Middle East. He said he would inform the Russians about talks with ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Quartet's new envoy.
"There are a mass of questions we want to discuss with Russia's leadership including who will participate in the conference and what questions will be discussed there," he said.
Russian officials raised the ire of Israel and Western nations last year when they held talks with Hamas leaders in Moscow.
The ITAR-Tass news agency quoted Abbas as saying he intended to discuss "all the pressing problems, especially as many such problems have amassed.... Our friendship with Russia is rooted in history, and we will preserve and strengthen this relationship."
The visit is the first since the June takeover of the Gaza Strip by Hamas amid bloody fighting. That prompted a flurry of diplomatic activity, with the international community lining up behind Abbas and the West Bank-based government of moderates he has installed.
Russia is a member of the Quartet of Mideast negotiators, which also comprises the United States, the United Nations and the European Union. Abbas, who last met with Putin in Russia in May 2006, said last week that he hopes to reach a full peace deal with Israel in less than a year.