MOSCOW, /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s contacts with the Israeli or Palestinian leadership can be arranged, if need be, but there have been no such contacts over the past few days, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.
“In recent days, Vladimir Putin has not yet had any personal contacts with the Israeli or Palestinian sides. If need be, they can be arranged,” he said.
The Kremlin spokesman added that the Russian Foreign Ministry was working most actively in the process of dialogue, including within the Middle East Quartet (Russia, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations).
Commenting on reports on missile strikes on buildings housing offices of some of the world’s leading media outlets in Gaza, Peskov noted that the Kremlin was “extremely concerned about the fact that such strikes take place.” “We are extremely concerned about the growing number of fatalities,” he said.
According to information published on the Kremlin’s website, Putin last spoke over the phone with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in December 2020, and with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on May 7, 2021.
The exchange of missile attacks between Israel and the Gaza Strip, which has been going on since May 10, was triggered by riots near East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque. Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police officers erupted after an Israeli court had ruled to evict several Palestinian families from the city’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.