MOSCOW, October 14. /TASS/. The Palestinian side believes that Russia’s presence at the Gaza summit in Sharm El-Sheikh would have been a net positive, Palestinian Ambassador to Moscow Abdel Hafiz Nofal told TASS.

When asked if the Russian side's absence from the relevant summit was a missed opportunity, the ambassador answered in the affirmative.

"Yes, the decision on invitations was not ours to make, but rather Egypt's, Qatar's, and the US’. Our attitude toward Russia is well known; it’s our friend. I was surprised when [US President Donald] Trump invited other European countries but ignored Russia. Nevertheless, Russia has always played, continues to play, and will continue to play a significant role in the Palestinian issue," the diplomat emphasized.

On October 13, the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh hosted a Gaza peace summit. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, US President Donald Trump and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a final Gaza ceasefire agreement. According to the Egyptian presidential office, the summit participants called for implementing further phases of Trump’s plan to resolve the conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov commented on the summit’s work, saying that Moscow will not turn down a proposal to join the Israeli-Palestinian settlement process should the participants ask, but will not impose itself either.