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Lavrov meets Hamas leader Haniyeh in Moscow

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
12 Sep 2022 21:08
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The visit, which comes at the invitation of the Russian Foreign Ministry, will last for several days and aims to discuss prospects for bilateral relations to serve the Palestinian cause.

Lavrov meets with Hamas leader Haniyeh in Moscow

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with a delegation of the Palestinian movement Hamas, headed by political bureau chairman Ismail Haniyeh, in Moscow on Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"On September 12, … Lavrov hosted … Haniyeh, who is in Moscow as the head of the delegation of this Palestinian movement. During the conversation, the main attention was paid to the development of the situation in the Middle East region with an emphasis on the Palestinian issue," the ministry said in a statement.

The movement's delegation includes the deputy head of the Hamas political bureau, Saleh Al-Arouri, in addition to the two members of the Political Bureau, Moussa Abu Marzouk and Maher Salah, according to the statement.

Al-Nono indicated that "this visit, which comes at the invitation of the Russian Foreign Ministry, will last for several days and aims to discuss prospects for bilateral relations to serve the Palestinian cause."

The visit comes "at a very important time at the level of the region and the world, as international developments and changes related to the region and their effects on the Palestinian cause will be discussed," Al-Nono added, praising at the same time the relationship with Russia and its stances on Palestine.

A leading delegation from Hamas previously came on May 4 to hold talks in the Russian Foreign Ministry with Deputy Minister Mikhail Bogdanov.

Last December, a Hamas delegation likewise made a similar visit to the capital, Moscow, and discussed with Russian officials several issues.

Moscow had criticized the stances of Western countries in dealing with the recent Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, indicating at the time that "the West is very concerned about the situation in Ukraine... while it is indifferently watching the Israelis kill the Palestinians and destroy the Gaza Strip," describing the matter as a continuation of the "Western propaganda machine."