Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 8 / Trend E. Ostapenko /
There are no signs that Moscow would oppose any dialogue between Hamas and the West. On the contrary, relations between Hamas and the West would rather be seen as a victory of the Russian policy in the Middle East, Researcher on Middle Eastern policy , Are Hovdenak, said.
"The upcoming visit of the Hamas leader is a sign of continued openness on the part of Moscow. Russia could even play the role of intermediary between Hamas and the West in such a shift of policy," expert from the International Peace Research Institute in Oslo (PRIO), Hovdenak, told Trend via e-mail.
Hamas leader Khaled Meshal is going to arrive in Moscow on Monday. According to Russia's Foreign Ministry, he will discuss the problem concerning Palestinian-Israeli talks and the inter-Palestinian settlement with Russia's representatives.
It will be the third visit of the leader of the Palestinian resistance to Russia. Meshal's two previous visits took place during Vladimir Putin's presidency.
At the same time, last weekend the Palestinian Hamas movement announced about the readiness for dialogue with the international community, including the United States and the European Union. The leader of the Palestinian movement Ismail Haniya stated about it.
According to Hovdenak, Russia has usually had a more pragmatic attitude towards Hamas than the rest of the Middle East Quartet including besides Russia, the United States, the UN and the EU.
The West regards Palestinian movement Hamas as a terrorist organization. The United States and the EU refuse to hold official negotiations with them, despite the fact that Hamas has a majority in the parliament.
Russia does not regard Hamas a terrorist association, by conducting a dialogue with both the leaders of Fatah, having power only in the West Bank, and Hamas controlling the Gaza Strip.
The reason for the lack of contact between Hamas and western countries is not due to any opposition to dialogue on the part on Hamas, but rather to the fact that the western countries follow the Israeli policy of boycotting Hamas and refuse to deal with Hamas as a legitimate government, Hovdenak said.
Since Hamas won the parliamentary elections in January 2006 its leaders have consistently sought a dialogue with international actors, including the U.S, EU and Russia, expert said.
"Such a dialogue is clearly in their interest as it would be a sign of the international recognition of Hamas as a legitimate political actor," he said.