Abbas, Putin held no talks on arms supplies at Sochi meeting—Palestine FM

MOSCOW—Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Maliki said that issue of arms supplies was not discussed during the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Palestine’s leader Mahmoud Abbas in the Russian resort city of Sochi.

The issue of arms supplies was not discussed during the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Palestine’s leader Mahmoud Abbas in the Russian resort city of Sochi, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Maliki told Sputnik on Friday.

“[We] have talked about wheat purchase, joint projects in imports, pharmaceuticals and agriculture. [We] have discussed exports of agricultural products to Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union, poultry and meat, as well as opportunities to buy oil from Russia. [We] have not discussed anything connected with military sphere. We have not discussed this topic since we are focused on the needs of Palestinian people. This issue is not on agenda,” Maliki said, commenting on Thursday’s talks between Putin and Abbas.

Palestinian National Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas told Russian President Vladimir Putin during the latest meeting that Palestine expected from Russia a more active participation in finding the solution to the Palestinian issue, Palestinian Foreign Minister said.

Putin and Abbas met at the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on Thursday and discussed bilateral relations and the Israeli-Palestinian settlement, among other pressing issues in the region.

“The meeting took place in a historic moment after Abbas’ visit to Washington. Moreover, this is clear evidence that Abbas expects Moscow to play the same important role in the political settlement as Washington and in parallel with the United States. Abbas stressed this during the talks with Putin: we [Palestine] expect you [Russia] to play the role, be present [at the process] and support the interest in the Palestinian issue,” Maliki said.