Putin discusses Mideast with Abbas after talking with Trump

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‍Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday he discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with his US counterpart Donald Trump before meeting visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Moscow.

"I just spoke with American President Trump," Putin told Abbas before continuing the talks behind closed doors.

"Obviously we spoke about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," he added.

Trump told Putin that now is the time to work toward a peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians, the White House said in a statement.

Abbas was in Moscow in a bid to secure Putin's support after Trump outraged the Palestinians and the international community by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (C), Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attend a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, February 12, 2018. /Reuters Photo

The "situation is far from what we want to see," Putin told his guest, adding that he has "always supported the Palestinian people".

"It is very important for us to know your personal opinion in order to set the record straight and put in place a common approach to solve this problem," Putin said.

Abbas wants US peace role diluted

Abbas told Putin he could no longer accept the role of the US as a mediator in talks with Israel because of Washington's behavior.

"We state that from now on we refuse to cooperate in any form with the US in its status of a mediator, as we stand against its actions," Abbas said.

"In case of an international meeting, we ask that the United States not be the only mediator, but just one of the mediators."

Abbas was quoted as saying he wanted an expanded new mediation mechanism to replace the Middle East Quartet.

"For instance, 'the quartet' plus some other countries like the model used to achieve the deal on Iran," Abbas said, referring to international talks about Tehran's nuclear program.

With Vice President Mike Pence looking on, US President Donald Trump signs an executive order after he announced the US would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, December 6, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Abbas has refused any contact with Trump's administration since Washington's decision at the end of last year, when US President Donald Trump reversed decades of US policy to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and set in motion the process of moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv.

Putin's meeting with Abbas came two weeks after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also visited Moscow.

Netanyahu on Monday said he had been in talks with Washington about annexing settlements in the occupied West Bank, a move condemned by a top Palestinian official as "land theft".

The White House denied Netanyahu's claims in a rare public show of disunity.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) attend a meeting at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center in Moscow, January 29, 2018. /Reuters Photo

Abbas, who is due to speak at the United Nations Security Council on February 20, has promised his people to work towards the full recognition of a Palestinian state by the UN.

Washington's role called into question

Jerusalem's status is one of the most sensitive issues in the region. When British rule ended in 1948, Jordanian forces occupied the Old City and Arab East Jerusalem. Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally.

Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and move the US embassy to the city has angered Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future independent state.

Israeli policemen stand guard near a Palestinian man during a protest following US President Donald Trump's announcement that he has recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, near Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City, December 7, 2017. /Reuters Photo

US threats to cut funds to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees have further strained relations between the Trump administration and the Palestinians, who no longer believe Washington is able to fulfill a constructive role in solving the decades-long conflict.

Trump accused the Palestinians of refusing to return to the negotiating table, noting that US Vice President Mike Pence was not granted a meeting with the Palestinians during his visit to the region in late January.

Washington's capability to broker peace was further called into question after he said he was "not necessarily sure" Israel was seeking to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians.

"Right now, I would say the Palestinians are not looking to make peace. They are not looking to make peace," Trump said in an interview published on Sunday. "And I am not necessarily sure that Israel is looking to make peace. So we are just going to have to see what happens."

The Quartet + China + Arab League + India?

The Palestinians are not just counting on Russia to take the broker's role – they are initiating a collective peace process involving the Quartet, China, Arab states and probably other players.

Established in Madrid in 2002 to promote peace in the Middle East, the Quartet comprises Russia, the UN, the European Union and the US.

An Israeli flag is seen near the Dome of the Rock, located in Jerusalem's Old City on the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, December 6, 2017. /Reuters Photo

The Palestinians want other world and regional powers to diffuse Washington's dominance on the issue.

"We're saying a collective approach involving several players at minimum would have a better chance of succeeding than the approach of only one country that is so close to Israel," Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour said on Thursday.

"The Quartet plus China plus the League of Arab States plus maybe others... We could also look at that," he added. "Or the collective process might be of the nature of the French Paris conference or international conference."

Prior to his tour to Russia, Abbas headed to Brussels in late January and met with EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini, calling on the EU to recognize a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.

EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini shakes hands with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Brussels, Belgium, January 22, 2018. /Reuters Photo

On Saturday, Abbas hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ramallah, telling him the Palestinians "are relying on India... to contribute to achieving a just peace in our region."

After the Jerusalem dispute in December, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang called for an early resumption of Palestinian-Israeli talks. China supports the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with full sovereignty on the basis of the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, he stressed.

Later that month, at a peace symposium for the two sides in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi described China as a "common friend of both Palestine and Israel" and reiterated that a "two state solution" is the only viable option to resolve the issue.

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