Russian president Putin to visit Israel, Palestine

MOSCOW

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Palestine on Jan. 23, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.

The Russian leader will travel to both Israel and Palestine on Thursday, Peskov told reporters in Moscow.

"In the next two days [Wednesday and Thursday], [Vladimir Putin will make] a regional trip to the Lipetsk region, and an international trip to Israel and Palestine," Peskov said.

Putin is expected to take part in the World Holocaust Forum on Jan. 23 in Jerusalem, where a monument to the victims of the Leningrad Siege will open.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki said Putin was expected to come to Bethlehem for talks with Palestine's President Mahmoud Abbas.

Putin visited Palestine in 2012 and 2017.