Abbas seeks Russia and China's help in peace process

Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas has sent delegations to China and Russia to ask them to take a greater role in the peace process with Israel, an official said on Tuesday, according to AFP.

Abbas has said the United States can no longer be a mediator in talks, following President Donald Trump's December 6 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Saleh Raafat, a member of the Palestinian delegation visiting Russia, said on Tuesday the PA chairman had tasked the delegates with pushing Chinese and Russian leaders to back peace talks.

"We are now in Russia, and some of us will go to Beijing to deliver the same message on the importance of seeking international sponsorship for the peace process under the banner of the United Nations," Raafat told AFP by phone from Moscow.

On Monday, Russia’s deputy UN envoy Vladimir Safronkov said his country is ready to become an “honest mediator”, as he put it, in the Israeli-Palestinian Arab conflict.