President Putin with Mahmoud Abbas in the Kremlin. Mr Putin wants to broker a meeting between the Palestinian president and Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister

President Putin is pushing to host peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians in the latest sign of his ambition for Russia to replace the United States as chief power broker in the Middle East.

Mr Putin made his overture to President Sisi of Egypt, who said that it would involve a meeting at the Kremlin between Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president.

“Putin has told me that he is ready to receive [Abbas] and Netanyahu in Moscow to carry out direct talks to find a solution,” Mr Sisi told the state-owned newspaper Al Ahram. “I see that the conviction of the importance of peace is rising among the Israeli side, and the conviction about finding an exit