MOSCOW, (RIA Novosti political commentator Marianna Belenkaya) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), in his residence in Sochi.
The talks were held two months after the Moscow visit by the delegation of the Hamas Islamic resistance movement, which won the January elections to the Palestinian parliament. Abbas and the Palestinian Islamists represent two different views of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement. What is Moscow's role in this situation?
Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov told journalists about the results of the Sochi talks during which the sides discussed Abbas's relations with the Hamas-led government.
"Russia welcomes the idea of a national dialogue between all Palestinian parties," Saltanov said. "If it brings results, many obstacles, including in the humanitarian sphere, would be removed."
The deputy foreign minister was possibly referring to the refusal of Israel, the Untied States and the European Union to cooperate with the Hamas government, which has complicated the social and economic situation in the Palestinian territories. Even if the international community sends humanitarian aid to the Palestinians through Abbas in the near future, the situation will not improve radically until the staff of the PNA leader and the Hamas-led government start acting as a single body.
But Abbas's party Fateh and Hamas have not been able to come to an agreement so far. They are fighting for power, but the formal pretext for refusing to cooperate is the unwillingness of the Islamic movement to recognize Israel and the agreements signed with it earlier by the PNA leadership.
Therefore, the success of national dialogue primarily means the attainment of consensus on peace settlement. But this is a long-term project and the international community has a limited opportunity to help Palestinians, although Moscow has done its best to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in the Palestinian territories because of the Israeli, U.S. and EU boycott of the Hamas-led government.
It was largely thanks to the Russian stand that the Middle Eastern Quartet of Russia, the U.S., the EU and the UN decided at their recent session to create a mechanism of assistance to Palestinians. It is not clear how assistance will be provided, but it will be directed through the secretariat of Mahmoud Abbas, bypassing the Hamas government. Russia had recently used this route to transfer $10 million to Palestine.
At the first stage of their meeting in the presence of the press, Putin and Abbas did not mention Hamas, speaking mostly about the future of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement and disregarding the fact that the new government was dominated by Islamic radicals who Israel, the U.S. and Europe refuse to deal with. Russia, which is the first and only member of the Quartet to have received a Hamas delegation, is speaking cautiously about its contacts with the movement.
Saltanov said "the talks with Hamas are a complicated matter, because Hamas should walk its part of the road." This means that Moscow has done everything it could to overcome the deadlock.
While the other members of the Quartet were fighting the effects of a shock created by the Hamas victory unable to decide how to deal with the new Palestinian authorities, Russian diplomats gave the movement a chance to proceed beyond the ideological boundaries of their platform and develop ties with the Quartet.
But this calls for a compromise, which in the case of Hamas means the recognition of Israel. In fact, Russia acted as an intermediary between the Islamic Palestinian movement and the international community. But now the ball is in Hamas's corner.
The peace process cannot progress unless Hamas changes its attitude to Israel. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has said several times that his government is not opposed to Abbas holding peace talks with Israel. "The important thing is what the Palestinian people will be eventually offered," he said.
So, should the PNA leader talk with Israel for the sake of talking, without coordinating the agenda with Hamas?
Israel regards this as a dead-end. Israel does not believe that the radical Hamas movement would respect any agreement reached with Abbas, said Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Eddie Shapiro. Hamas currently insists on its basic principles, which are non-recognition of the sovereignty of Israel, and an armed struggle against the Jewish state.
Moscow and other members of the Quartet are aware of the danger. But they are clinging to the phantom possibility of keeping the talks going between Palestinians and Israelis, because Israel, which thinks that it has no negotiating partners in Palestine, may opt for solving the Palestinian problem single-handed.
Moreover, negotiations are necessary, one way or another, because apart from the ultimate goal of a peace settlement there is also a number of everyday problems, such as providing water, gasoline and electricity to Palestinians and ensuring their safety.
Russia, just as the other members of the Quartet, calls for carrying on Israel-Palestine dialogue via Abbas, while hoping that Hamas would eventually change its stand, because this would be primarily in the interests of Palestinians.
