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Russia supports Abbas leadership | Russia supports Abbas leadership |
(30 minutes later) | |
Russia has shown strong support for Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. | |
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who held talks with Mr Abbas in Moscow, called him the "legitimate leader of all Palestinians". | |
Russia has simultaneously announced it was lowering its contacts with the militant group Hamas. | |
Mr Abbas, who leads the Fatah movement, has been in dispute with his Hamas rivals whose supporters took control of the Gaza Strip six weeks ago. | |
"I want to assure you that Russia will support you," Mr Putin told Mr Abbas. | |
"I am convinced that you will do everything to restore the unity of the Palestinian people," he said after talks. | |
'Lowered' ties | |
Russia is a member of the Quartet - along with the US, UN, EU - which is trying to work towards a political settlement between Israel and the Palestinians. | |
Moscow established high-level contacts with Hamas after it won Palestinian elections last year, as Western powers shunned the group over its refusal to recognise Israel and renounce violence. | |
Russia's first deputy foreign minister said contacts with Hamas had been "somewhat lowered" and there are no high-level meetings in prospect. | |
Mr Abbas dismissed the Hamas-led government last month after the Islamic group won the struggle for the Gaza Strip. |
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