Russia Warns Trump Peace Plan Will Undo All Israeli-Palestinian Progress So Far

• Russia Warns Trump Peace Plan Will Undo All Israeli-Palestinian Progress So Far
  by https://www.timesofisrael.com/
  FM Lavrov says Moscow ‘worried’ by ‘dangerous’ US approach, adds ‘deal of the century’ doesn’t include independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as capital.
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  Russia on Tuesday offered strong criticism of the Israeli-Palestinian peace plan proposed by US President Donald Trump’s administration, saying it would destroy all progress made so far in negotiations between both sides.
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  “For more than 2 years US colleagues have been promising to offer a ‘deal of the century,’” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told visiting Palestinian officials, according to a translation by the Russian embassy in Israel published in a series of tweets. “However, the available information makes it possible to evaluate this future ‘deal’ as destroying everything that has been done so far.”
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  White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and other administration officials will head out to the Middle East later this month to brief diplomats in at least five countries on the economic section of the US proposal, which is bitterly opposed by the Palestinians.
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  Kushner, who is Trump’s son-in-law, will be joined by US Mideast envoy Jason Greenblatt, US envoy for Iran Brian Hook and other administration officials who have worked on the economic part of the plan, dubbed the “deal of the century.”
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  Stops are confirmed in Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Other stops could be added to the trip, according to a White House official. Lavrov said Tuesday Moscow was “unhappy” with the current climate in the region, and views US involvement as “worrying.”
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  “We see the greatest danger in the US position aimed at promoting unilateral approaches, breaking the key international legal basis for resolving the Palestinian problem,” he said in Moscow. Lavrov added that from “what we hear,” the Trump administration deal will not lead to the creation of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
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  “To our great regret, the Palestinian split has created pretexts for advancing along the line for breaking the generally accepted foundations of Israeli-Palestinian settlement,” he said at a meeting with representatives of 12 Palestinian factions — including the main ones, Fatah and Hamas — aimed at bridging the gaps between them and moving toward a unified government.
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