Putin sends message to 26th Arab Summit in Sharm

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a message to the 26th session of the Arab Summit, which was read out by Arab League Deputy Secretary General Ahmed bin Heli.
Your meeting is taking place against the backdrop of complex social, political and economic shifts in the Middle East and North African countries with which Russia has always had relations of close friendship and cooperation, Putin said.
We support the Arabs’ aspirations for a brighter future and advocate the resolution of all problems the Arab world faces through peaceful means, without any external interference, he added.
Unfortunately, the security of many Arab countries today is under threat due to activation of extremist and terrorist organizations that seize entire cities and provinces causing hundreds of thousands of civilians to suffer and destroying the priceless cultural heritage of humankind, Putin went on to say.
Expressing regret, he said Russia resolutely condemns these criminal actions having no justifications.
We proceed from the fact that effective fight against terror is impossible without a general improvement of the regional situation. In this connection, we consider the soonest possible settlement of the crisis situations in Syria, Libya, Yemen on the basis of the principles of international law, by means of broad dialogue and search for national accord to be rather important, Putin said.
Putin also used the message to convey Moscow’s support for an independent Palestinian state with Al Quds (Occupied East Jerusalem) as its capital.
The resolution on the Palestine problem is of special significance, and its essential precondition is the realization of the Palestinian people’s legitimate right to establish an independent, viable, and territorially contiguous state with Al Quds as its capital.
The Russian president concluded his message saying he would like to reiterate readiness to expand the entire range of partnership relations with the Arab League in line with the decisions made at the Moscow and Khartoum ministerial meetings of the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum.