Hamas representatives landed in Russia on Thursday to meet with Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, in an apparent effort by Russia to reassert itself as an important power broker in the Middle East, and a potential alternative mediator for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has no plans to meet with the delegation.
The two sides discussed the release of foreign hostages from the Gaza Strip, according to RIA Novosti, a Russian state news agency, and the evacuation of Russians and other foreigners from the region, according to a Hamas statement, the New York Times reported.
Israel called Russia’s decision to invite Hamas “reprehensible” and demanded that it immediately expel them.
Russia has previously asserted that the only resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.
On Monday, the UNSC voted on a draft resolution proposed by Russia calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The US voted against, prompting Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin to claim the US “does not actually support a ceasefire,” reported TASS. Four such draft resolutions have failed to pass.
As escalating violence in the Middle East threatens to spark a huge new conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is meeting today with Secretary General of the League of Arab States (LAS) Ahmed Aboul Gheit in Moscow, Russia’s FM Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS.