Israeli-palestinian peace prospects discussed Putin, Moon agree Trump-kim summit to help denuclearisation
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s senior Middle
East envoys met Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday to discuss Israeli-palestinian peace prospects, the White House said, after holding separate talks with Arab leaders.
Washington has said it has a peace plan in the works that could be released soon. Israelipalestinian negotiations stalled in 2014 over disputes that have deepened with bloodshed in Gaza and the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Top Trump adviser
Jared Kushner, Middle East emissary Jason Greenblatt and US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman held a fourhour meeting with Netanyahu in Jerusalem. Israel’s envoy to Washington, Ron Dermer, also attended.
The White House said they discussed humanitarian relief for the Gaza Strip, where Palestinians have since March 30 held weekly, sometimes violent protests against Israel, drawing
Israeli army fire. At least 128 Palestinians have been killed.
“They further discussed the continued commitment of the Trump administration and Israel to advance peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians,” the White House said in a statement.
Netanyahu’s office put out a similar summary that referred to prospective Israelipalestinian peacemaking more generally as “the diplomatic process”.
Israeli officials have said they want any new negotiations to entail wide engagement with Arab powers. – Reuters/african News Agency (ANA) RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have agreed to support “efforts to establish complete denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula” following the Us-north Korea summit last week.
A joint statement signed by the two leaders during a state visit by Moon to Russia was released by South Korea’s presidential Blue House. Moon arrived in Russia on Thursday, the first official visit by a South Korean president since 1999.
The Russian and South Korean leaders agreed that last week’s historic summit in Singapore between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would contribute to denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
Putin and Moon agreed to “continue joint efforts to establish complete denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula and secure permanent peace and stability on the peninsula and (in) Northeast Asia.”
Both Moscow and Seoul are hoping that reduced tensions with Pyongyang will open up opportunities for economic and infrastructure projects that would directly link South Korea with Russia through North Korea.
Those plans are currently blocked by international sanctions on North Korea which international leaders have said will not be lifted until North Korea makes significant moves to give up its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
Trump said on Thursday that a process of “total denuclearisation ... has already started” in North Korea, but US officials familiar with current intelligence on North Korea’s nuclear and missile test sites said there was no evidence of new moves to dismantle any sites.
A number of countries, including South Korea and Russia, have nevertheless begun looking for ways to engage with North Korea economically should sanctions be lifted.
Putin and Moon agreed to joint research in the fields of electricity, gas and railways in order to advance cooperative projects between North Korea, Russia and South Korea.
Their statement said “largescale infrastructure projects will contribute to Northeast Asia’s peace and prosperity”. – Reuters /African News Agency (ANA)