Hamas leader to arrive in Moscow on February 8

A Hamas delegation under the head of the movement’s political bureau, Khaled Mashaal, will arrive in Moscow on February 8 to discuss the Palestinian dialogue.

“One of the main themes to be discussed will be ways of overcoming the intra-Palestinian split and the resumption of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations,” spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Andrei Nesterenko said.

“We hail the efforts exerted for this purpose, first and foremost, those by the leadership of Egypt, which is using any opportunity to promote Palestinian unity. I would like to confirm our certainty that such unity, relying on commitment to political settlement, the PLO Charter and the Arab peace initiatives, is a pre-requisite of implementing the unalienable right of the Palestinians to their own, independent and viable state, expected to serve as factor for security and peace in the region,” the diplomat said.

“The forthcoming meetings will take place in the context of the political dialogue Russia maintains with influential forces in the Palestinian society for the sake of promoting a solution to the problem of resuming the Palestinian talks.” Nesterenko noted.