by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas to attend the two-day BRICS summit which begins today (October 22) in Kazan, Russia.
BRICS is an intergovernmental geopolitical bloc comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates. Founded in 2009, the bloc meets annually to discuss and coordinate multilateral, mutually beneficial policies. Russia took over the presidency of the bloc on January 1, 2024, and is therefore hosting this year’s conference.
Abbas’ invitation to represent the Palestinians at this year’s summit came after he made an official visit to Moscow on August 12.
“We have discussed our vision regarding the possible development of events in the nearest future and what it could lead to during such complicated times,” Abbas said in a statement about his talks with Putin this summer.
“We have certainly also discussed bilateral relations, because we enjoy a very long-standing strategic relationship with Russia,” Abbas said. “This is why we have discussed bilateral ties between Russia and Palestine, the relations that we always support solidly both during the personal meetings as well as at the level of telephone conversations. We have discussed perspectives for their further development.”
“We have also discussed BRICS. We have reached a verbal agreement that Palestine would be invited [to attend this forum] in the ‘outreach’ format,” Abbas stated.
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