The meeting may take place in the coming weeks.
Russia made a proposal to organize in Geneva a meeting of US and Palestinian representatives with participation of other parties of the “Middle East Quartet” (except for Russia and the US the UN and the EU are also members) and a number of regional states. Such an assertion was made on Wednesday by the Axios news portal with reference to unnamed Western diplomats, whom Moscow devoted to its peace initiative. According to his version, this could be the next few weeks.
“Negotiations between the U.S. and Palestine will avoid escalation “on the ground” in connection with Israeli plans to annex some [Palestinian] territories in the West Bank. According to diplomatic sources, the UN and EU support the Russian initiative and see it as an opportunity to launch a new political process that will slow down or stop Israel’s plans for annexation”, – says the publication.
According to one of the Western diplomats, who quotes Axios, the only way to stop the annexation is to restart the dialogue between Palestine and the United States. “Russia proposes to hold a meeting in Geneva with the participation of other parties to the Quartet (UN and EU – TASS), as well as such Arab states as Egypt, Jordan, UAE and Saudi Arabia,” the publication says. – It remains unclear whether Israel will be invited to the negotiations or a separate meeting”. According to the portal, Russian President’s Special Envoy for the Middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov discussed it with U.S. presidential aide and special representative for international negotiations Avi Berkovitz and officials from the U.S. National Security Council.
The U.S. and Palestinian representatives have not yet given a final response to the Russian proposal.