Israel: Jerusalem has no knowledge of reported Putin visit

Palestinian media reports upcoming state visit by Russian President to restart peace talks.

By i24news

 

Israeli government’s spokesperson on Thursday said Jerusalem had no knowledge that Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to visit Israel during his tour to the Middle East next month.

Russian President Vladimir Putin gives a thumbs up after watching a live broadcast of the launch of the Angara rocket from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in Moscow on December 23, 2014 – Photo: Alexey Druzhinin/Ria Novosti/AFP

The report saying the strongman leader will visit Jerusalem to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Ramallah for a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has appeared on Thursday in al-Quds, a Jerusalem-based Palestinian broadsheet.

Putin visit, the report claimed, was aimed to kickstart the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, currently in deep crisis, following the failure of the latest US-backed push last year.

In a statement showing Putin’s New Year’s messages to heads of state across the world, the Russian leader addressed US President Barack Obama, saying the “Russian-American partnership could have been developing successfully” in spite of the crisis in US-Russian relations over Ukraine.

 

View original i24news publication at: http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/diplomacy-defense/58598-150122-israel-denies-knowledge-of-reported-putin-visit