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Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Russia did not propose US-Palestine summit on Middle East settlement — senior diplomat

According to the Russian envoy, the Middle East Quartet consultations between the special envoys of the Middle East Quartet members will hardly lead to a breakthrough

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov Sergei Bobylev/TASS

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov

© Sergei Bobylev/TASS

MOSCOW, May 21. /TASS/. Russia did not propose to hold a US-Palestine summit on the Middle East peace settlement, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa Mikhail Bogdanov told TASS, commenting on the rumors that appeared in the media.

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Envoy says Palestine eager to continue talks with Israel

"This is a complete nonsense," he said.

"They come up with all sorts of phantasmagoria. It’s ridiculous, it’s delirious. They make it out of whole cloth; they fantasize and then attribute it to me that I introduced some kind of proposal. We have only one proposal — to comply with the UN Security Council resolution on the Palestinian-Israeli settlement, that’s all we propose," the deputy foreign minister said.

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Palestinian president announces withdrawal from all deals with Israel, US — agency

He also debunked US media reports that he purportedly discussed perspectives of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement with some officials from the US National Security Council.

Earlier, the US-based Axios news website claimed, citing unnamed Western diplomats, that Russia allegedly proposed to organize a meeting between the US and Palestine with participation of other members of the Middle East Quartet (the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia itself) and a number of other states. Later, media speculated that such a meeting might take place at the highest level and may include separate contacts between Russia and the US on the Middle East issue.

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Reaction of Islamic world to 'deal of the century' was definitively negative — envoy

Meanwhile, according to the Russian diplomat, the Middle East Quartet consultations between the special envoys of the Middle East Quartet members will hardly lead to a breakthrough.

"Consultations will involve the special envoys of the Middle East Quartet. I hope that the meeting will take place in the near future. It is most likely to be held on the phone, but a video conference is also possible," he said.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin is expected to represent Russia at the consultations.

However, Bogdanov was skeptical about the meeting. "The Americans are promoting their ‘Deal of the Century," which is completely unacceptable to the Palestinians," he noted, when asked if the upcoming consultations could produce any results amid rising tensions.

On May 17, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the time had come to annex parts of the West Bank. In response, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on May 19 announced an end to all agreements with Israel and the United States.

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"Armenia’s trade with the EAEU countries has rocketed 14-fold," the president said

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European Commission confirms agreement on expropriation of income from Russian assets

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Department of Defense spokesperson Sabrina Singh said that the United States views the decision to hold a military exercise of this kind as "deeply irresponsible"

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Russian government resigns

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Putin signs decree setting Russia’s development goals for 2030

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According to the source, there are currently about 28,000 inmates, and this number includes women, people unfit for military service due to health conditions, age and their criminal offenses

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Since June 12, 2013, Putin has been the leader of the non-governmental movement All-Russia People’s Front, created at his initiative as a coalition of social and political forces

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Leonid Pasechnik also said the strike "damaged power lines, disrupting electricity supplies to nearby houses"

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Ukrainian army leaving positions near Avdeyevka over Russia’s incessant gunfire — POW

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Indonesian ambassador says Su-35 fighter jets contract remains in force

Indonesian Ambassador to Russia Jose Tavares said that around 30% of weapons in service with his country’s armed forces are Russian-made

Southern neighbors of US to regain stolen lands — Russian Security Council’s secretary

Nikolay Patrushev speculates that country may split into the North and the South again to get back to its original shape

Kiev forces view journalists wearing 'press' vests as primary target — war reporter

Christelle Neant recommended using small "press" labels in order to help Russian troops identify media workers

Ukrainian shelling leaves female civilian wounded in Gorlovka, mayor says

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Christelle Nahan noted that people were tired of the fact that there was not enough money for the development of infrastructure, hospitals and schools, for pensions and benefits for children

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US losing favor around world, while Russia's image improving — poll

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Dutch MEP congratulates Putin on his inauguration

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"A little later it became clear that we were simply being led around by the nose, and we had to take extraordinary measures to protect these people with military force," the Russian leader said

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