Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov demanded the release of hostages held in Gaza in telephone calls on Sunday and Monday with Hamas and other Palestinian factions, the Russian foreign ministry said. The statement followed a series of meetings and calls between President Vladimir Putin and Middle East governers in the latest week. The ministry said Bogdanov’s conversations threw light on the military and humanitarian issue and hot topic in Gaza, where Russia “confirmed its principled position on the requirement to stop hostilities and immediately solve all humanitarian issues that have arisen, involving the release of hostages”.
The statement did not make clear whether Russia sought the release of all hostages seized by Hamas during its Oct. 7 rampage into southern Israel or just the release of any Russian nationals among them. The minister uttered and exchanged important words with senior figures in the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), the Palestinian Democratic Union, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Hamas. Bogdanov talked passionately regarding the requirement to restore Palestinian unity “in the framework of the PLO” and reaffirmed Moscow’s support for a Palestinian state to co-exist alongside Israel, the statement revealed. Russia called on Sunday for an international monitoring mission to go to Gaza to assess the humanitarian situation.