Kremlin says Palestinian president to visit Russia soon

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - The visit of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to Russia is in the final stages of preparation, with dates to be announced soon, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

"Indeed, I can confirm that Mr. Abbas's visit to Russia is being prepared, it is at the final stage of preparation. We will inform you about its specific dates in the near future," Peskov told a press briefing in Moscow.

Initially planned for Nov. 15, 2023, the visit was postponed at the request of the Palestinian side due to the situation in Gaza.

- North Korea, Ukraine, US

Regarding Russia's cooperation with North Korea, Peskov said both countries are working according to the agreements reached during the recent visit of President Vladimir Putin to Pyongyang.

Commenting on Ukraine's decision to limit the transit of Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline to Slovakia and Hungary, Peskov described it as a "political decision," noting that resolving this situation does not depend on Moscow.

The Slovak Economy Ministry confirmed that oil supplies from the Russian Lukoil company had been stopped due to Kyiv's blacklisting of the company.

In a separate statement, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said a new legal situation in Ukraine has led to the halt of Lukoil supplies to Hungary.

Regarding US presidential hopeful Donald Trump's remarks that Russia was allegedly "afraid" of him, Peskov said the comments were intended for domestic American audience.

"During US election campaigns, participants make various statements designed for an internal audience, often including phrases and formulations that Americans want to hear," he said.

Peskov said that while the period of Trump's presidency was marked by significant contradictions and tensions, there was dialogue. However, Moscow's talks with the current Washington administration are practically non-existent, with only situational communications taking place, he added.

On the recent massive malfunction of the Windows operating system, Peskov said it did not affect the Kremlin in any way, "everything works smoothly there."

The outage has hit companies across the world, from airlines to financial services and media groups, disrupting operations.