MOSCOW (AFP) — Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Monday met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for the first time, seeking Russian support to keep the shaky Middle East peace process on track.
Abbas's visit to Moscow came against a backdrop of resurgent unrest in the Gaza Strip, with Israel threatening a major offensive against Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the enclave.
"I am sure that we will work together in a fruitful manner, above all as the problems against which the region is confronted are growing at the moment," Medvedev said during their talks.
Abbas added: "We have many questions to discuss and we know that you bring a particular attention to the problems of the Middle East."
Russia is a member of the diplomatic quartet for Middle East peace that also includes the European Union, United Nations and United States and has had traditionally friendly relations with the Arab world dating back to the Soviet era.
Medvedev also welcomed Abbas's symbolic election in May to the title of "president of Palestine" in a vote at a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's 120-member Central Council.
Earlier Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov backed Abbas's leadership in the conflict between the Palestinian president's moderate Fatah party and Hamas.
"We support Mahmud Abbas's effort to maintain Palestinian unity despite many provocations," he told a news conference.
Lavrov reiterated Moscow's support for the stalled peace process under the principles of the so-called "roadmap" adopted in 2003, saying it was being threatened by both militant attacks and by Israeli settlement policy.
Abbas said he "appreciated" Russia's role in the peace process. Both he and Lavrov said they were looking forward to a Middle East peace conference that Moscow plans to host next year.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP ahead of the Moscow talks that Abbas would be seeking to enlist Russia's support in opposing Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
"During the discussions he will insist on the necessity that Israel stop building settlements and prevent a rollback to the starting point of the negotiations," Erakat said.
Abbas delighted his hosts by making a rare visit by a top foreign official to the war-ravaged region of Chechnya, where rights groups have accused the Kremlin of significant rights abuses over the last decade.
Over the weekend Abbas visited the Chechen capital Grozny and met Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. The Russian newspaper Kommersant said the trip would "undoubtedly" please the Kremlin.
"Mahmud Abbas became the first leader of the Muslim world to fly to Chechnya," the newspaper said, pointing out that Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi and Jordan's King Abdullah II had not toured Chechnya on visits to Russia.
"This is not your first visit (to Russia) but this time you have expanded the visit by visiting Chechnya," Medvedev told Abbas.
Abbas's visit to Moscow came after he travelled to Washington last week in a bid to keep peace efforts alive, amid growing tensions between Israel and Hamas.
Violence around Gaza has steadily escalated since Friday, when Hamas announced that it would not renew a six-month truce with Israel.
On Sunday, the two frontrunners in the race to become Israeli prime minister after a snap election in February both vowed to topple Hamas through a heavy military offensive.
The Islamist movement, a rival of Abbas's Fatah party, is branded a terrorist group by the Jewish state and the West.
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