Europe

President Abbas: Israel put off talks planned this month

Associated Press
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Polish President Andrzej Duda, left, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas inspect the honor guard during an official welcoming ceremony in the courtyard of the presidential palace in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2016. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski) (The Associated Press)

Polish President Andrzej Duda, right, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas share a word after inspecting the honor guard during an official welcoming ceremony in the courtyard of the presidential palace in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2016. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski) (The Associated Press)

Polish President Andrzej Duda, left, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas inspect the honor guard during an official welcoming ceremony in the courtyard of the presidential palace in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2016. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski) (The Associated Press)

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says Israel's prime minister has put off talks that he says were planned between the two of them this week in Moscow.

Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have not met in many years.

Speaking in Warsaw, Abbas said Tuesday he was to fly from Poland to Moscow to meet Netanyahu Friday, on President Vladimir Putin's invitation.

But Netanyahu's envoy asked for the talks to be put off, during a meeting with Putin's envoy Monday in Jerusalem, he said.

Abbas declared he was ready for talks anywhere in the world.

His position previously was that he would meet only if Israel would freeze settlement construction and follow through on a previously agreed prisoner release that was canceled.