CAIRO, December 11. /TASS/. The legal status of Jerusalem may be determined only based on international law and the UN Security Council resolutions, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said at a joint press conference with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Cairo on Monday.

"The legal status of Jerusalem may be determined only based on international law and the United Nations Security Council resolutions," he said. "President Putin has confirmed the importance of preserving Jerusalem’s status quo," el-Sisi added.

According to the Egyptian president, during his talks with Putin, much attention was paid to the Palestinian issue, particularly in light of the recent decision made by US President Donald Trump to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the US embassy there. "We have discussed the possible consequences of this dangerous decision for efforts to establish peace in the Middle East," he said.

Vladimir Putin said Moscow and Cairo call for promptly resuming direct Palestine-Israel dialogue on all issues, including the status of Jerusalem. 

"Our countries call for promptly resuming direct Palestine-Israel dialogue on all issues, including the status of Jerusalem," he said. "There is a need to achieve long-term and fair agreements, which would be in the interest of both parties. And clearly, these agreements should be in line with the decisions previously made by the global community," Putin added. He stated that Russia fully supported all the previous decisions of the United Nations Security Council on that matter.

The Russian president stressed that Moscow valued Egypt’s constructive approach towards the Middle East issues and welcomed the agreement signed by Fatah and Hamas in Cairo, aimed at strengthening Palestinian unity.

"We regard as counter-productive any steps that anticipate the outcome of the dialog between the Palestinians and the Israelis," he said after talks with el-Sisi. "We believe that such steps are destabilizing. They by no means settle the situation, but on the contrary provoke the conflict."