A delegation from Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, is currently visiting Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday at her weekly press briefing, without giving further details. On the other hand, the official TASS agency reports that the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, is expected in Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin.

The state news agency RIA, citing a source in the Palestinian delegation, reported that among the delegation of the Palestinian militant movement that arrived in Moscow was Abu Marzouk, a high-ranking member of Hamas.

On the other hand, Zakharova also informed that the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran, Ali Baghiri Kani, is currently in Moscow, who held talks with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Mykhailo Galuzin. Bagheri Kani is a key player in Iran’s nuclear negotiations.

Russia has ties to all key actors in the Middle East, including Israel, Iran, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, News.ro said, citing Russian news agencies.

Moscow has repeatedly blamed the current crisis on the failure of American diplomacy and called for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and the resumption of negotiations to reach a peace agreement.

And Mahmoud Abbas will soon visit Moscow, hold talks with Putin

In addition, the official Russian news agency TASS, citing a high-ranking Russian diplomat, reports that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will soon visit Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I can say that he (Abbas) will soon arrive on an official visit to Moscow. There will be talks with Volodymyr (Putin),” said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mykhailo Bogdanov, who is the president’s special representative for the Middle East and Africa.

Kremlin spokesman Dmytro Peskov refused to say when exactly Abbas will arrive, TASS reports. “We will announce the date later,” Peskov said, noting that the two leaders are expected to discuss mainly the situation in the Middle East.

Tensions in the Middle East escalated on October 7, when Hamas militants launched a surprise incursion into Israel’s territory in the Gaza Strip. The Islamist movement called its attack a response to the aggressive actions of the Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. Israel declared a complete siege of the Gaza Strip and began striking the Palestinian enclave, as well as parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes also occur on the West Bank.

_____

• Follow the latest events of the war in Israel LIVETEXT on HOTNEWS.RO