Following the conversation between Putin and Netanyahu: Russia demands Hamas to release the hostages – I24NEWS

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and Special Representative of the Russian President for the Middle East, Mikhail Bogdanov, called for the immediate release of hostages held in Gaza, during phone calls held on Sunday and Monday with Hamas and other Palestinian factions, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Earlier on Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Russia immediately condemned the terrorist attack carried out by Hamas on October 7. He said the Kremlin only maintains ties with the group’s political wing.

Hamas carried out a terrorist attack on October 7, which we immediately condemned. He said that Hamas has a political branch operating in Doha and we have a relationship with this political branch.

Lavrov added: “We immediately contacted people in Doha to discuss the fate of the people being held hostage.” He then pointed out that this was said in relation to Russian citizens as well as citizens of neighboring countries.

This dramatic change in public discourse follows a phone conversation between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin that lasted for nearly an hour on Sunday. The Israeli Prime Minister publicly criticized the position of Russian officials on the war between Israel and Hamas and the intensified dialogue between Moscow and Iran, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said.

Earlier on Thursday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visited Moscow to discuss bilateral cooperation with Putin as well as “regional and global issues, especially the Palestinian situation and the ongoing developments in Gaza,” Iranian news agency IRNA reported.

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Deputy Foreign Minister Bogdanov was also among those who held talks with the Hamas delegation in Moscow last October. He met with the head of Hamas’s international relations, Musa Abu Marzouk, and was joined by Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani.