WEST BANK: Russian Federation President Dmitri Medvedev reaffrims Russian support for Palestinian state

Record ID: 560518

  • Title: WEST BANK: Russian Federation President Dmitri Medvedev reaffrims Russian support for Palestinian state
  • Date: 19th January 2011
  • Summary: JERICHO, WEST BANK (JANUARY 18, 2011) (REUTERS) (AUDIO AS INCOMING) PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS AND DMITRY MEDVEDEV WALKING INTO ROOM AHEAD OF JOINT NEWS CONFERENCE MEDIA CREW (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN PRESIDENT DMITRY MEDVEDEV SAYING: (BASED ON SIMULTANEOUS TRANSLATION DURING NEWS CONFERENCE) "Russia made its choice a long time ago ...we supported and will support the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to an independent state with its capital in East Jerusalem." MEDIA CREWS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS, SAYING: "There are two choices: either negotiations and peace, or violence and terror, and we will not choose violence and terror." MEDIA CREWS MEDVEDEV AND ABBAS DURING NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 3rd February 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: West bank, West bank
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA7YPOW30YX2P5ZL2AEKJF1CRAR
  • Story Text: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev endorsed a Palestinian state on Tuesday (January 18), saying Moscow had recognised independence in 1988 and was not changing the position adopted by the former Soviet Union.
    Making his first visit to the Israeli-occupied West Bank as Russian head of state, Medvedev stopped short of issuing a ringing declaration of recognition of Palestinian statehood by the modern Russian Federation which he represents.
    "Russia made its choice a long time ago ...we supported and will support the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to an independent state with its capital in East Jerusalem," Medvedev said.
    Israel has been alarmed in the past two months by a string of recognitions by Latin American states including Brazil and Argentina, which some analysts say could be a precursor to a move by the Palestinians to seek full United Nations membership if efforts to revive moribund peace negotiations fall through.
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has confirmed that is one of his options. At a news conference with Medvedev in Jericho he thanked Russia for being "one of the first states in the world to recognise the state of Palestine in 1988."
    Communist Moscow recognised a Palestinian state declared by the late Yasser Arafat, in a move that won broad support in the Soviet bloc and Third World but had little real impact on diplomatic and political realities.
    The Palestinians today say 109 states out of 192 United Nations member countries recognise their statehood. Israel has warned that a "unilateral declaration" of statehood would set back the peace process.
    A senior Israeli intelligence official told a Knesset committee on Tuesday he expects more recognitions by the time of the U.N. General Assembly in September.
    Medvedev drove into the Israeli-occupied West Bank in a road convoy convoy from Amman airport in Jordan, crossing over the historic Allenby Bridge in an unusual route for a head of state that was dictated by an Israeli foreign ministry strike, which had forced him to cancel the Israel leg of his trip.
    Palestinian security men were out in force and curious crowds lined the streets of Jericho to watch the convoy enter the Biblical town north of the Dead Sea, at the lowest point on earth, which has been inhabited for over 10,000 years.
    Officials said they could not remember when a visitor of that level had used the Allenby crossing, which was shut down to normal traffic for the occasion. The crossing is controlled by Israeli immigration and security.
    Medvedev drew applause from Palestinians when he noted that "this is the first visit of a Russian President to Palestine not united with a visit to another country" -- a clear reference to Israel which would normally have been his first stop.
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that there two choices facing Palestinians and Israelis, peace or its negation.
    "There are two choices: either negotiations and peace, or violence and terror, and we will not choose violence and terror," he told journalists in a news conference.
    Russia is a partner of the United States, European Union and United Nations in "the Quartet" of international powers overseeing Middle East peace negotiations.
    A number of former Soviet bloc east European states that are now in the EU also recognised Palestine in 1988. But the United States and west European governments do not.
    Quartet foreign ministers were due to meet next month in Munich to discuss ways to revive the Middle East peace process, which has been a foreign policy priority for U.S. President Barack Obama but has ground to a halt due to a dispute over Israel's West Bank settlements policy.
    Israel apologised to the Kremlin for having to cancel Medvedev's first trip when foreign ministry diplomats who would normally prepare it stepped up their strike action last month to win better pay and conditions.
    JRS/JRC
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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