Putin to go on Middle East tour in late June
MOSCOW. June 18 (Interfax) - President Vladimir Putin plans to pay a visit to Israel on June 25, and to the Palestinian territories and Jordan on June 26, the Kremlin press service reported on Monday.
While on a visit to Israel on June 25 on the invitation of the Israeli leadership, Putin will attend the dedication ceremony for a monument of victory commemorating the triumph of the Re Army over Nazi Germany.
The idea of building this memorial was proposed by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu during his visit to Moscow in February 2010 and supported by the Russian leadership. The Keren Hayesod Foundation and the prime minister's office were the organizers of the project.
On June 26 Putin is expected to pay a visit to the Palestinian territories at Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's invitation and attend the ceremonial opening of the Russian Scientific and Cultural Center in Bethlehem. The center will work on the basis of the cultural and business center, handed over to the Russian Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Residing Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo) for free in 2011.
On the same day Putin will pay a working visit to Jordan on the invitation of King Abdallah II.
The Russian president will join the ceremonial opening of a hostel for Russian pilgrims in the religious-archaeological area where Jess Christ was baptized in the Jordan River.