Netanyahu's representative told Putin's Jerusalem representative that the proposed meeting between the two in Moscow will have to be postponed, according to PA president.
By REUTERSUpdated: SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 15:14Netanyahu and Abbas(photo credit: REUTERS)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Tuesday that a proposed meeting in Moscow with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not be held for now."President Putin has proposed a meeting on September 9 in Moscow. I agreed to this and I was to go to Moscow directly from here," Abbas told a joint news conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw."Unfortunately yesterday in Jerusalem president Putin's representative and prime minister Netanyahu's representative held a meeting and prime minister Netanyahu's representative proposed to postpone the meeting for later, so there will be no meeting (on September 9)," Abbas said.The last Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed in 2014.The Prime Minister's Office said on Monday that Netanyahu was considering the Russian offer to host talks between him and Abbas.“The Prime Minister presented Israel’s position that he is always ready to meet with President Abbas directly and without preconditions,” Netanyahu's office said in a statement.The Palestinian leader said that he would only meet Netanyahu after Israeli settlement construction freezes and releases the last of the Palestinian prisoners that were to be released in the 2014 negotiations led by US secretary of State John Kerry.Herb Keinon contributed to this article.
