On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Russia-Ukraine talks, according to the Kremlin.

According to the Kremlin, they also discussed “the difficulties of the Middle East solution in the context of growing tensions in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.”

Last Friday, at least 152 Palestinians were wounded in clashes with Israeli riot police inside the al-Aqsa mosque compound, the latest outbreak in an upsurge of violence that has raised fears of a slide back to wider conflict.