Updated

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will visit the Palestinian territories even though his trip to Israel has been canceled due to an Israeli Foreign Ministry strike, the Kremlin said in a statement.

The Kremlin statement, released late Tuesday, said Israeli President Shimon Peres had apologized to Medvedev for the inability to prepare for his visit in mid-January.

During their telephone conversation, the two presidents agreed to meet during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, at the end of the month, the Kremlin and Peres' office said.

An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman shrugged off suggestions that Israel might be offended by Medvedev's visit to the Palestinians, saying the Russian leader is free to visit wherever he wants.

The Kremlin did not say Wednesday whether Medvedev planned to visit the West Bank, Gaza or both. But in a statement, Peres said Medvedev would be meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank town of Jericho.

The cancellation of the Israeli leg of his trip was due to a strike at Israel's Foreign Ministry, which made it difficult to organize the Russian president's visit.

Workers are striking because they say they are underpaid. The Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot published a pay slip Tuesday it said belonged to an Israeli diplomat showing he earns just over minimum wage — about $1,000 a month.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Wednesday that Israel had reached an understanding with Russia that Medvedev's visit should be postponed until after the strike.

"The president is most welcome to visit Israel any time he wants and the Russians know this," Palmor said. "The problem is that the Foreign Ministry is on strike and there is no one to properly take care of such an important visit."