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Putin to Demand Respect from Abbas
// Russia dissatisfied with Palestinian President
Today Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian National Authority, holds negotiations with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, and it’s unlikely that the leaders will breeze through the talks. It seems to Moscow that it is deliberately kept out the Middle East peace process. International forums are organized without taking account of Russia, and the idea of holding a Middle East peace conference in Moscow isn’t duly supported. Some of the claims concern the Palestinian President personally. In the Kremlin’s view, Mahmoud Abbas ought to contribute to Moscow’s more active involvement in addressing regional challenges.
It’s the fourth time Mahmoud Abbas visits Moscow as President of the Palestinian National Authority, although he’d come to Russia’s capital many times before. Since the Soviet times, Abbas has had a lot of friends here. The Palestinian President met with one of them, Russia’s ex-Prime Minister, ex-Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), now President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Yevgeny Primakov right after his arrival Wednesday night. In his time Mahmoud Abbas defended a Ph.D. thesis at Moscow’s State Institute of Oriental Studies, with Mr Primakov being his scientific advisor. Of all the official contacts of the Palestinian President in Moscow, that meeting was probably the most informal one.
On the face of it, the relations between Russia and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) are flourishing. A few pieces of good news from his counterparts await Mahmoud Abbas during his current visit. Moscow is going to allocate $10 mln for the PNA as financial aid. The same sum was given to Palestine a year ago. More to the point, Russia’s EMERCOM (Ministry for the Affairs of Civil Defense, Emergency Situations and Disaster Relief) is going to organize several flights with humanitarian aid for Palestinians, including the population of the Gaza Strip, which is now under control of Palestine’s Hamas radical movement.
According to the information of Kommersant, Russia is ready to increase the Palestinian quota on the training of security agents. Last year 142 specialists for the Palestinian law machinery graduated from corresponding Russian high schools with the Interior Ministry. These include snipers, cynologists and mine clearance specialists. Russia’s secret services also contributed to training the Palestinian security agents. They trained 100 bodyguards of Mahmoud Abbas. The same number will graduate 2008, with the amount of anti-terrorist agents growing. Besides training the specialists for the PNA security agencies, Moscow is eager to provide help supplying special equipment, like body armor and communications facilities.
By the end of this year Palestine will have gotten two helicopters for its top-ranking officials free of charge. The total cost of the two pieces of Mil Mi-8AMT aircraft amounts to $18 mln. The only issue to overshadow the military and technical cooperation of Moscow and Ramallah remains the one regarding the future of the notorious 50 armored troop-carriers, whose delivery has been discussed for a couple of years. Moscow attaches the blame for the delay to Israel, whose government either suggests that the ATCs be shipped in two consignments, 25 machines each, or requires that armament be taken off them.
In exchange Russia demands that the PNA fosters Moscow’s more active involvement in the Middle East peace process. So far it appears to Moscow that it is deliberately pushed aside. Russia continues participating in the regular meetings of the Middle East “Quartet,” without playing important role in the negotiations nonetheless.
As usual, Russia puts the blame on the USA, which regards the Middle East the area of its vital interests and is not going to let its rivals in. In Moscow’s opinion, a recent step of Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak, which aroused the irritation of Russia’s government, can be explained by the pressure of Washington. Mr Mubarak suggested that a summit on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict settlement be held in the Egyptian Sharm El Sheikh resort town. The leaders of the USA, Jordan, Palestine and Israel were invited, not Russia. In Cairo’s view, the Sharm El Sheikh summit is necessary to bring about the talks started in Annapolis, MD at the end of last year. Russia points out that the Sinai summit is organized simultaneously with the Moscow Middle East peace conference, which appears an attempt to undermine the forum on the Middle East, initiated by Vladimir Putin.
There are several unresolved issues between Russia’s government and its Palestinian guest. As personal contacts of Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas resumed a few months ago, Russia believed that the Palestinian President would keep it in touch with the agenda of the meetings and the progress of the talks. But the hopes dashed. Moscow is virtually in the dark about the current state of the Israeli-Palestinian talks, for it doesn’t receive the relevant information from the negotiators. At the same time Washington gets all the details after every round of talks. This said, it’s clear that the USA won’t share this information with Russia.
Moscow is about to consider the obvious neglect of its interests by the Palestinian President the manifestation of disrespect. Evidently, the Kremlin is going to demand that Mahmoud Abbas take a stand, and the Palestinian President will have to articulate his position.
Alexander Reutov
All the Article in Russian as of Apr. 18, 2008
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