OREANDA-NEWS. January 19, 2011. Talks between the President of Russia and President of Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas took place in Jericho. The main issue discussed during the meeting was Middle East settlement.

At the news conference following the talks, Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia supports the right of the Palestinian people to establish their own territorially unified and indivisible state, adding that the potential of international and regional organisations should be used more actively to move the process forward.

The Russian President confirmed his intention to host an international conference on the Middle East in Moscow. Mr Medvedev said that the international legal framework needed to achieve tangible results in addressing the Middle East conflict is already in place. The prospects for the conference will become clear following the upcoming meeting of the Middle East Quartet in Munich.

A number of joint documents were signed following the Russian-Palestinian talks.

The President of Russia and the President of the Palestinian National Authority inaugurated in Jericho a new museum and park complex situated on a land plot possessed by the Russian Federation.

Dmitry Medvedev and Mahmoud Abbas toured the museum’s exhibition and took a walk through the park, which is home to a 2000-year-old tree – the Zacchaeus’ Sicamore Fig Tree – a biblical relic that is a place of adoration for Christian pilgrims from around the world.

On this plot transferred into Russian ownership several years ago, the ruins of a 5th century Byzantine temple were discovered by archeologists.