Kremlin says Putin should talk to Abbas and Netanyahu about Gaza expansion

(CNN) — Russian President Vladimir Putin will address the escalation in Gaza in five separate phone calls this Monday with leaders including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the Kremlin said.

Putin has already spoken with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, and plans to speak with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov said.

The calls come ahead of Putin’s trip to China, where he is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping as part of the “One Belt, One Road” forum this Tuesday and Wednesday.

Ushakov urged the parties involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to “immediately cease fire” and begin the process of a peaceful settlement.

“We believe that the most important thing in this situation is an immediate ceasefire and the start of a process of political settlement,” he told reporters, in line with Putin’s previous statements about the UN’s two-state formula, which the UN has agreed to. An independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem.