Official website of the President of Russia

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The message reads, in part:

“Your meeting is taking place against the backdrop of complex social, political and economic shifts in the MENA [Middle East and North Africa] countries with which Russia has always had relations of close friendship and cooperation. We support the Arabs’ aspiration to a brighter future and advocate the resolution of all the problems the Arab world faces through peaceful means, without any external interference.

Unfortunately, today the security in many Arab countries is at risk as various extremist and terrorist groups step up their activities, seizing whole cities and provinces, bringing pain and hardship to hundreds of thousands of civilians, and mercilessly destroying humanity’s priceless cultural heritage.

We proceed from the fact that effective fight against terrorism is impossible if the situation in the region is far from stable and healthy. In this connection we deem it extremely important to settle the conflicts in Syria, Libya and Yemen as soon as possible, based on the principles of international law, through extensive dialogue and search for nationwide harmony.

The resolution of Palestine’s problem is of special importance, and the key condition for this is to guarantee the lawful right of the Palestinian people to an independent, viable and territorially integral state with its capital in Eastern Jerusalem. Russia will further support this goal acting both in bilateral and multilateral formats, including through the Middle East Quartet of intermediaries. We believe it is important to promote closer cooperation between the Quartet and the Arab League.

I would like to reiterate our readiness to expand the entire range of partnership relations with the Arab League in line with the decisions made at the Moscow and Khartoum ministerial meetings of the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum.”