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Lavrov says Moscow ready to host Abbas-Netanyahu meeting if it is 'their choice'

Earlier Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel, offered Luxembourg as a place for a future Abbas-Netanyahu meeting
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 2010 AP Photo/Charles Dharapak
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 2010
© AP Photo/Charles Dharapak

MOSCOW, September 13. /TASS/. Russia is prepared to host a meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but it is their sole prerogative to decide on a date and place for such a meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

He believes that the two leaders might meet "in Moscow or some other place in Russia, or in a third country, because it is up to the leaders of Israel and Palestine to decide."

"We will keep in mind the moment when they are ready," Lavrov said.

"When the leaders of Palestine and Israel are prepared for this and if the choice (of the meeting’s venue - TASS) is in Russia’s favor, we will do our utmost to ensure such a meeting be a success," he confirmed.

Earlier, Luxembourgian Prime Minister Xavier Bettel offered Luxembourg as a place for a future Abbas-Netanyahu meeting. As the Israeli prime minister said, Bettel had invited him to Luxembourg and added that the Palestinians might come there, too. Netanyahu added that his meeting with Abbas might take place in Moscow or Luxembourg.