Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas that much should be done to ensure that the countries' economic ties develop more actively, especially since there is potential for this, RIA Novosti reported.

"As far as bilateral relations are concerned - we have spoken about this many times - there is still much to be done to ensure that economic ties develop more actively," Putin said during a bilateral meeting that began in Astana on the margins of international summits.

He added that there are necessary prerequisites for this. According to the Russian leader, humanitarian ties between the countries are developing, students from Palestine in various fields are studying in Russia.