Lavrov To Hold Talks With Palestinian Foreign Minister On December 21 - Zakharova

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is set to hold a meeting with his Palestinian counterpart Riad Malki in the Russian capital on December 21, the Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th December, 2018) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is set to hold a meeting with his Palestinian counterpart Riad Malki in the Russian capital on December 21, the Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said on Thursday.

"On December 21, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold talks in Moscow with the Palestinian foreign minister. The sides are expected to focus on the situation between Palestine and Israel, including in the context of the goal aimed at preventing the revision of the generally-accepted international legal framework for the middle Eastern settlement," Zakharova said.

The sides are also planning to address the issue of the speedy reestablishment of the Palestinian national unity and the implementation of the 2017 inter-Palestinian agreement between rival factions Fatah and Hamas, which was supposed to allow the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to regain control over both parts of the Palestinian state.

The ministers will also exchange views on the ways to improve the socioeconomic and humanitarian situation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The PNA was established back in 1994 as a governing body for both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In 2005, following the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from Gaza, the authority took control of the enclave. But the unity did not last long as in 2006 a conflict erupted between Fatah and Hamas, and the two groups started governing the two parts of the Palestinian territory separately.

In 2017, Fatah and Hamas signed an Egypt-brokered agreement to put Gaza back under the PNA's control but the deal has not been implemented so far.