Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday.

President Abbas briefed the Russian President on the latest developments in the occupied Palestinian territories, and the ongoing aggression to which the Palestinian people are being subjected in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Jerusalem, targeting defenceless civilians, including children, women and the elderly, the complete destruction of infrastructure, and the war of starvation.

The President reiterated the Palestinian position calling for an immediate and urgent ceasefire to prevent the shedding of more innocent blood, a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, an end to the ongoing attacks in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, and the dangerous incursions into Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, an end to the strangulation of the Palestinian economy, and the release of Palestinian clearance funds, in preparation for a return to the political horizon based on international legitimacy in accordance with the two-state solution, to end the Israeli occupation of the land of the State of Palestine, and to embody its independence with East Jerusalem as its capital.

President Abbas stressed the importance of the international community obligating the occupying state to abide by international legitimacy and international law decisions, implementing the decisions of international courts, the latest of which is the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, supporting the State of Palestine’s full membership in the United Nations, and holding an international peace conference, in order to give hope to the Palestinian people that the international community is serious about preserving what remains of the possibility of implementing the two-state solution, which successive Israeli governments seek to destroy and ignore international legitimacy decisions.

The President said: "We are happy to meet President Putin again as a friend of the Palestinian people, in order to exchange views and advice regarding the difficult conditions that Palestine is experiencing, and to discuss ways to stop the aggression and war of extermination waged by the occupation in Gaza and the West Bank, including Jerusalem, and to discuss ways to avoid expanding the war in the region, and the importance of implementing the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, and the State of Palestine obtaining its full membership, and holding an international peace conference."

The President stressed the importance of strengthening the historical bilateral relations between the two countries, which we always seek to strengthen in a way that serves the interests of our two friendly countries and peoples, highly appreciating the efforts made by Russia to achieve Palestinian reconciliation under the banner of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, which will help us unite our people and our land in the independent, sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

He added that our Palestinian people appreciate the influential position of friendly Russia on the international scene and in the Security Council, and appreciate its courageous, steadfast and supportive positions for the rights of our people in international forums, and its standing with justice, right and international legitimacy to end the occupation and embody the rights of our people to freedom and independence.

The meeting was attended by Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization Hussein Al-Sheikh, Head of the General Intelligence Service Major General Majed Faraj, Presidential Advisor for Diplomatic Affairs Majdi Al-Khalidi, and Ambassador of the State of Palestine to Russia Abdul Hafeez Nofal.