President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that he hopes officials will take the Middle East Quartet meeting in April as an opportunity to push forward the peace process.
Speaking from the Republic of Bashkortostan alongside his counterpart there, the president said "Palestinians are determined to achieve peace through negotiations," and that he hoped Israelis shared the sentiment.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to arrive in the Russian capital of Moscow the same day, to meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
He was expected to ask Russia not to give any support to Israel's foes Iran and Syria, amid continued Israeli concern about Russian ties with Tehran and its latest pledge to ship advanced anti-ship missiles to Syria.
But an Israeli official in Moscow said Netanyahu would make Wednesday's Jerusalem bombing, which killed a British tourist and injured 30 others, the focus of his meetings, with other topics suggested by Russia such as the Middle East peace process taking a secondary role.
Speaking from Bashkortostan, amid regular Israeli strikes on Gaza and near-constant projectile fire from the Palestinian enclave, Abbas called on Israel to make peace, be neighborly, and not to instigate war.
Abbas was in Bashkortostan following an official visit in Moscow, where officials expressed concern over the stagnated peace process.
Bashkortostanian President Rustam Khamitov spoke of support for Palestinians, saying Islam was a "model to unite people of different religions," and suggesting missions to the region to support economic growth.
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