MOSCOW, December 9. /TASS/. Palestine hopes that Russia will organize a Middle East peace conference, Palestinian Ambassador to Russia Abdel Hafiz Nofal said in an interview with the Izvestia daily on Thursday.
"<…> Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he wants Russia to call an international peace conference that would yield a new mechanism for the peaceful settlement of the Middle East conflict. But it doesn’t mean that such a conference would be organized already tomorrow. We want it to be held and we have Russia’s principled consent as it has recognized the importance of such a format," he said, commenting on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with Mahmoud Abbas in Sochi on November 23.
The Palestinian diplomat stressed that a new international mechanism is needed for dialogue between Palestine and Israel, which could be set up with the help of the Middle East Quartet (Russia, the United States, the United Nations, and the European Union). The decision on the participants in such a conference should be made by the United Nations upon agreements with the sides.
According to the Palestinian diplomat, Abbas was frank with Putin on what concerns dialogue between Palestine and Israel and said he completely trusted Russia’s leaders.
"We think that Moscow is playing a major role in the peace process. We don’t want unilateral US-brokered talks any longer. We need a new international mechanism for the settlement of the Middle East conflict. And we want Russia to play a bigger role in the peace process and act as a mediator at the Palestinian-Israeli talks. We are ready to hold Russia-mediated dialogue with Israel in Moscow," he added.