The Israeli Foreign Minister, Mr Shlomo Ben-Ami, will travel to Russia for talks with his Russian counterpart, Mr Igor Ivanov, early next week, an Israeli spokeswoman said yesterday.
The talks are expected to focus on ending eight weeks of Israeli-Palestinian clashes.
During President Putin's talks with the Palestinian President in Moscow, Mr Arafat spoke to the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak, by phone from Moscow.
Mr Arafat and Mr Barak agreed to resume operations at joint Israeli-Palestinian liaison offices, a day after Israel ordered their cessation, and Mr Arafat vowed to do everything in his power to end nearly two months of Israeli-Palestinian fighting.
"We must not forget that Russia is one of the co-sponsors of the peace process and therefore has moral and political responsibilities" in the Middle East, Interfax cited Mr Arafat as saying shortly before he left Moscow at 7:35 p.m. (4.30 p.m. Irish time).
"This is very important for ending the violence" he added, stressing that "infringements of the peace process could lead to an explosion in the whole region."