Washington's role in the Middle East topped the agenda in Moscow during talks Feb. 12 between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The head of the Palestinian Authority (PA) had originally been due to meet with Putin in Sochi. However, following the crash of a Russian civilian aircraft that claimed 71 lives, the meeting had to take place in Moscow. Just a few minutes ahead of the meeting, US President Donald Trump phoned his Russian counterpart. The formal reason was to express condolences over the plane crash, but the two politicians also touched upon other topics, including the Palestinian-Israeli settlement process. Putin passed Trump’s best wishes to Abbas as the two leaders started the conversation. “Naturally, we talked about the Palestinian-Israeli settlement process. I would like to convey his best wishes,” the Russian leader said to Abbas. Later, Washington clarified that Trump had emphasized the need to start working out an “enduring peace agreement” between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

The statement came amid the Palestinian’s active rejection of US mediation in the Middle East. Abbas did not come empty-handed, as he brought the proposals to set up a new settlement mechanism for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Should any international conference or any international event take place, we ask for the ultimate creation of a mechanism in which the United States would be part of a group of mediators rather than the sole intermediary,” the Palestinian leader told Putin.