The Russian president Vladimir Putin will discuss the situation in Middle East with the president of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas in Moscow later today Tuesday, the Kremlin announced yesterday.

It is expected that “there will be an exchange of views on the situation in the Middle East, in the light of the current worsening of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the unprecedented humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip,” the services of the Russian presidency noted via Telegram.

Mr Abbas is making a long-awaited official visit to the Russian capital until Wednesday, shortly after which he will travel to Turkey for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Russia, which cultivates close relations both with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and with leaders of Arab states such as Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in particular, condemned the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniya in Tehran on July 31. attributed to Israel, calling on all parties to refrain from further actions that would further destabilize the Middle East.

Moreover, he often criticizes the West for choosing, as Moscow sees it, to overlook the need to establish an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.