The call for an international peace conference came in response to Russian President Vladmir Putin’s visit to Israel and the West Bank on Tuesday as part of a tour to the Middle East, according to Maan news agency.

Russia’s administration has lost some credibility in the region as a result of its support of the Assad regime in Syria. It now hopes to re-establish its reputation by brokering a regional peace conference.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Putin in Bethlehem to discuss a host of concerns, according to Maan News Agency.

Among the top issues in the meeting was the role Russia could play in mediating peace talks between Israel and Palestine.

The majority of the Jerusalem meeting centered on Israel’s fear of a potential Iranian nuclear weapon, despite no evidence for the existence of such a weapon, according to Haaretz.

After meeting with Putin in the presidential headquarters, Abbas said he assured the Russian leader that “negotiations are the only way to achieve peace between us and Israel.”

He stressed the leadership’s position that they cannot enter peace talks while Israel continues to expand settlements on Palestinian land.

Abbas asked Putin for help securing the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, especially those detained before 1994. “We already agreed with Israel that they should be released, but that has not been put into effect yet.” he said, according to PNN.

The leaders also discussed the reconciliation process between Abbas’ Fatah party and rivals Hamas.

The presidents also talked about the Arab Spring and bilateral relations between Russia and Palestine.

In Moscow, the six powers – United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany – are again expected to push Tehran to address their most pressing concern, its enrichment of uranium to 20 percent fissile purity. The failure of talks could be devastating, amid fears that Israel could bomb Iran if no diplomatic solution is found, intensifying regional tensions and pushing oil prices higher Al Jazeera reports.

The six powers, led by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, hope at least to win assurances that Tehran is willing to discuss solid solutions, opening the way to further meetings.

Iran has refuted such accusations and insists it nuclear programme is only for peaceful purposes.

Ahead of the Moscow talks, each side has accused the other of hampering diplomacy.

The Islamic Republic’s chief negotiator, Saeed Jalili, told a Russian television station Iran’s right to enrich uranium ought to be “recognised and respected”.  Iran is also seeking to put an end to tightening economic sanctions impose by EU and US.

At the last talks, in Baghdad last month, the six nations asked Tehran in return to stop producing higher-grade uranium, ship any stockpile out of the country and close down the underground Fordow facility where such work is done.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) failed to persuade Iran, in talks this month, to let it inspect a military site, Parchin, where new satellite imagery of the Parchin base near Tehran showed that “extensive activities” where there had been “virtually” none for years, Reuters reported. This “could hamper the agency’s ability to undertake effective verification” of the site, the IAEA warned.