Putin expresses “great pain” over plight of Palestinians to Abbas
Amidst the largest incursion into Russian territory by Ukrainian forces since the start of the war, President Vladimir Putin turns his attention to the Middle East in an attempt to keep hold of Russia’s relevance on the world stage.
Putin met with President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas on August 12th in the Kremlin, where the Russian leader expressed that Moscow was pained by the plight of Palestinians and backed their aspiration to create a fully-fledged state, according to Reuters and agencies.
Putin stated that Moscow was paying attention to the situation in the Middle East despite its current war in Ukraine. He, however, did not refer to the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk that began on August 6th. The operation has caught the Russian military off guard and forced over 130,000 people to be evacuated.
“Everyone is well aware that Russia today, unfortunately, must defend its interests and defend its people with arms in hand. But what is happening in the Middle East, what is happening in Palestine, of course, does not go unnoticed on our part,” stated Putin.
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“And of course, we are watching with great pain and anxiety the humanitarian catastrophe that has unfolded in Palestine,” he added.
Putin noted the number of casualties in Gaza nearing 40,000 over the start of Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Islamist militant group Hamas, who killed 1,139 people and took 250 as hostages on October 7th.
Russia has had longstanding relations with Israel and the Palestinians, though Putin angered the former by hosting Hamas delegations. Tel Aviv was also upset with Moscow when Putin remarked that the suffering of Palestinian children made “tears come to your eyes”.
Veteran leader Abbas, 88, referred to Russia as “one of the dearest friends” of the Palestinian people. We believe in you, we trust you, and we feel your support,” he said to Putin.
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Abbas urged the United Nations Security – on which Russia sits as one of the five permanent members with veto-holding powers – to act to “stop the actions that Israel is taking”, which has been receiving condemnation worldwide.
Judges at the ICJ found Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and maintenance of Israeli settlement to be illegal in an advisory ruling in July.
Moscow blamed the instability of the Middle East on the failure of U.S. foreign policy and sought to cast itself as a peacemaker in the region. However, in his latest remarks, Putin has not presented a new initiative other than supporting Palestinian statehood and providing more humanitarian relief.
Since the start of the Ukraine war, Russia has built closer ties with Iran and has urged Tehran to show restraint in the face of Israeli aggression in response to the assassination of Hamas’ political chief, Ismail Haniyeh.
Reuters and agencies
