The Guardian 22 February, 2006
Russian invitation to Hamas
President Putin of Russia has invited representatives of Hamas to visit Russia following their success in the recent Palestinian elections. He first mentioned the invitation at a recent Madrid press conference and the response from the USA and Israel was less than enthusiastic.
Vladimir Putin stressed that Hamas had come to power in Palestine by means of democratic elections and "one should respect the choice of the Palestinian nation".
Putin talks of a means of regulating the conflict in a way that is acceptable to the Palestinian Authority, Israel and other countries with an interest or involvement in the Middle East situation.
"I do not think that Russia has retired from the regulation of the Mideastern conflict. Russia’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs has been actively involved in the process", Putin said.
"Burning bridges in politics is very simple, although it is not a very considered thing to do", he added
"This is the reason why Russia has not acknowledged Hamas as a terrorist organisation", Putin said. Whereas Israel, USA and the European Union label Hamas as a terrorist organisation.
The Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs spokesperson said that Russia’s contacts with Hamas would help the organisation move forward to the realisation of requirements from the international community. "It may also help maintain security talks with Israel", the spokesperson added.
"We do not need contacts just for the sake of international contacts. It’s very important to make Hamas negotiate and guarantee Israel’s security", he added.
"Putin’s statement on the matter has confirmed Moscow’s balanced approach to the regulation of the problem in the Middle East. Russia has always stood for peace in the region", an advisor of the Palestinian Embassy in Moscow Ahmed Muslih said.
Putin said that he disagreed with the point of view of Israel, the USA and the EU regarding the estimation of Hamas’s activities. Putin also pointed out that Russia had never categorised Hamas as a terrorist organisation. At the same time, he said, Russia could not approve and support everything that the organisation does in the region.
The group of international mediators (the USA, the EU, the UN and Russia) laid down three conditions to Hamas: to recognise Israel’s right to existence; end the armed struggle; and follow all the previously signed agreements.
"The necessity to establish relations with Hamas has been clear from the very beginning", according to Sergei Mikheev, the Deputy Director of the Russian Centre for Political Technologies. "Russia is not the only country in the world that does not see Hamas as a terrorist organisation. There is an illusion in the West according to which free elections solve everything to the benefit of the pro-Western services… The Western propaganda machine has been broken in Palestine. Israel may continue rejecting the power of Hamas. At the same time Israel, Russia and the West do not need a war in the Middle East", he said.