"We rely on Russia in the negotiations with the Israeli side, guided by the policy of occupation in resolving the Middle East conflict", the negotiator said during a press conference in Moscow.
Oreikat added that the Palestinian side is thankful to the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the Russian president Vladimir Putin "for the support of the Palestinian aspiration to create an independent state based on its 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital within the framework of the international law."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday that the aspirations of Palestinians to gain international recognition and obtain statehood are supported by Russia. Russia and China are the only members of the UN Security Council to give full diplomatic state recognition to Palestinians.
A draft resolution on the creation of the Palestinian state was submitted to the UN Security Council on December 17. The resolution sets a 12 month deadline for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Palestinian territories.
On the same day, the European Parliament adopted a resolution urging the recognition of the Palestinian Authority as a state.
The State of Palestine was proclaimed by the Palestine National Council on November 15, 1988. It has laid claim to territories occupied by Israel in the course of the Six-Day War in 1967, including the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
The ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict intensified in July when Israel launched Operation Protective Edge against Hamas forces in Gaza, killing over 2,000 Palestinians and 71 Israelis, according to the United Nations.
