AA/ Ramallah / Qais Abu Samra
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has received an invitation from his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to attend the BRICS summit scheduled to be held in Kazan next October.
Palestinian Ambassador to Moscow Abdel Hafeez Nofal told Anadolu Agency on Monday: “I personally conveyed an official invitation from Russian President Putin to President Abbas to participate in the BRICS summit scheduled for next October.”
BRICS is a bloc founded in 2006 and includes China, Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa, before Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates join in early 2024.
This bloc is economic in nature and also aims to allow developing countries that resist the hegemony of Western countries, particularly the United States, to be better represented on international issues.
Nofal added: “So far, there is no Palestinian response regarding the possible participation of the president in the summit. If the president does not participate in the summit, Prime Minister Mohamed Mustafa will be tasked with representing him.”
He continued: “The Palestinian leadership pays great attention to relations with Russia and President Abbas visits Moscow regularly.”
Nofal said that “the Russian invitation is important in the context of the continuation of the Israeli genocidal war against the Palestinian people.”
Abbas met with Putin in Moscow on August 3. The two leaders discussed the developments in the Palestinian cause and the evolving situation in the Middle East.
With US support, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 133,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, mostly children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and deadly famine.
In defiance of the international community, Tel Aviv continues the war, ignoring UN Security Council resolutions to end it immediately, as well as orders from the International Court of Justice to take measures to prevent acts of genocide and improve the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Israel is also contesting a request by International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan to issue two arrest warrants for its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for their responsibility in war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
*Translated from Arabic by Wejden Jlassi
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