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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat

Sources: Netanyahu Turned Down Russian Offer on Abbas Summit

File photo: Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas (L) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R). AFP Photo/Chris Kleponis

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a Russian proposal to meet with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in Moscow around two weeks ago, political sources in Tel Aviv said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin made his peace summit proposal in a July 14 meeting with Abbas in Moscow. Netanyahu was also in the Russian capital at the time but he rejected the offer, saying it would not bring any good.

But the sources said that Netanyahu does not want to anger the US administration that has drawn a roadmap for a settlement in the Middle East, which Abbas is dealing lightly with.

The Israeli prime minister considered any summit meeting with Abbas in Moscow as a stab in Washington’s back.

Putin invited Netanyahu and Abbas for talks in 2016. Both leaders expressed willingness to meet, but the Israeli premier backed off the last minute, in a sign that finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis is not on his agenda.

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