Russian President Medvedev to make rare West Bank visit

BBC News, 18 January 2011

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is making a rare visit to the West Bank for talks with Palestinian leaders on how to revive collapsed peace process.

This will be the first visit to the West Bank by a
Russian president since 2005

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is seeking Russian support for a tougher stance towards Jewish settlements at the UN Security Council.

Mr Medvedev will meet Jordan's King Abdullah in Amman on Wednesday.

He had been due to go to Israel, but the plans were shelved after Israeli foreign ministry staff went on strike.

Russia has suggested that it wants to play a more active diplomatic role in the Middle East, but correspondents say there has been little to show for its efforts so far.

'Fundamental commitment'

Mr Medvedev will travel through the occupied West Bank on Tuesday to the town of Jericho, where he will meet President Abbas.

The BBC's Jon Donnison in Jerusalem says that as well as trying to expand trade links, Mr Abbas will be keen to have his counterpart's ear on the issue of the peace talks, which were suspended in September.

Palestinian diplomats say they are about to seek a UN resolution against continued settlement expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the issue which prompted the Palestinians to leave the negotiating table. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Russia has the power to veto resolutions.

"The upcoming talks with the Palestinian leadership follow the logic of Russia's fundamental commitment to reinvigorate international efforts to stabilise the situation and achieve peace in the Middle East," the Russian government said in a statement ahead of the visit.

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Mr Medvedev's foreign policy adviser, Sergei Prikhodko, said Russia was not so ambitious as to believe it could single-handedly resurrect the peace talks.

"That would be a very high hurdle," he told the AFP news agency. "We do not consider ourselves a messiah."

"We are ready to demonstrate a responsible approach and share that responsibility with everyone," he added.

The Quartet of Middle East peace mediators - the UN, US, European Union and Russia - will meet next month to discuss the peace process.