Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an immediate ceasefire and the interests of the Palestinians to be taken into account in the current Middle East crisis, in phone calls on Monday with Middle Eastern leaders. The Russian leader spoke first to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Putin's foreign policy advisor, Yuri Ushakov, said. He was also to call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Ushakov said that in the calls Putin had laid out the Russian position, according to the Interfax news agency. Following the attacks by the Palestinian militant organization Hamas and ahead of an expected incursion into the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces, Putin highlighted the interests of the Palestinians in the conflict. Citing UN resolutions, he called for the two-state solution to be implemented and the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem. He also called for a ceasefire and the start of political discussions to resolve the conflict. Speaking on television on Monday, Putin said that humanitarian issues in the conflict region had to be solved. Many Russian citizens lived in the region, he noted. Russia, which has close contacts to the Arab world, had repeatedly offered to mediate, he said. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Russian officials have been in contact with Hamas several times this year.

Source: Ghana News Agency