Putin and Trump. Photo: Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images
Russia has criticized an upcoming conference in Bahrain at which the Trump administration will launch the economic part of its Middle East peace plan.
Context: The Foreign Ministry in Moscow claims the conference is aimed at "imposing an alternative vision" for the peace process, but will fail like the U.S.-led anti-Iran conference in Warsaw last February. China and Russia notified the Palestinians several days ago they would boycott the conference.
"The persistent desire by the U.S. to replace a comprehensive political solution with some economic 'bonuses' for the Palestinians is of deep concern. At this difficult stage, collective efforts to launch Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are needed, rather than unilateral 'deals' of opportunistic nature."— Russian Foreign Ministry statement