MOSCOW, February 29. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has wished Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas success in forming a unified Palestinian government of technocrats.
"We wish the Palestinians and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas success in forming a new Cabinet. We hope it will reflect the trend toward overcoming differences and include people who represent the interests of the entire Palestinian people, all its constituent parts," the foreign minister said at an intra-Palestinian meeting in Moscow.
Commenting on Abbas's decision to change the government by starting the process of selecting new ministers - technocrats, Lavrov expressed hope that such an approach indicates a desire to introduce a neutral "note" into the internal political process and will help to give a boost to the intra-Palestinian dialogue, as well as the meetings planned in Moscow.
"Our colleagues, whom you know very well, from the Institute of Oriental Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian Foreign Ministry, are at your service. If you talk in a responsible way among yourselves, Palestinians, I think we could expect progress," Lavrov told the participants in the event.
He assured them that Russian Presidential Special Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and scientific head of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Oriental Studies Vitaly Naumkin will continue their work and will be ready to provide advisory services. "I hope that traditional Russian hospitality will contribute to your productive work," Lavrov said.
On February 26, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh’s government. Shtayyeh and his government will continue to serve until a new government is formed, Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
According to the Al Mayadeen television channel, Abbas had to take this step due to pressure from a number of regional players and the United States. The next step toward forming a new government is supposed to be a national consensus involving all Palestinian groups, including Hamas.
Ayman Al-Raqab, a member of the governing wing of Fatah, one of the main factions within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), told TASS on February 21 that Palestinian movements would meet in Moscow in late February in a bid to try to reach an agreement on a unified Palestinian government of technocrats.