Moscow Won’t Put Hamas and Hezbollah on Terror List, Top Russian Says
Image by Getty Images
The fighting in Syria will not affect Russia’s decision to keep Hamas and Hezbollah off its list of terrorist organizations, a senior Kremlin official said.
Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told the Interfax news agency last week that while his country concurs with the United States’ definition of some organizations that are operating in Syria as terrorist groups, Russia is “not even discussing Hezbollah and Hamas with the Americans.”
Gatilov’s remark, made in response to a question by an Interfax journalist, came as his country was discussing with Washington the possibility of promoting steps to weaken the Islamic State, al-Qaida and Jabhat al-Nusra.
“Our opinions coincide as regards to the main terrorist organizations,” Gatilov said. “These are the main ones, and there is a definite consent about them” being terrorist groups.
Russian officials have said repeatedly that Hamas and Hezbollah, which are allies of Syrian President Bashar Assad, will not be recognized as terrorist organizations by Moscow. These groups or some of their sections are listed as such by the European Union, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, among other nations.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Dive In
-
Sports The Trail Blazers let Israeli starter Deni Avdija cook, and minted a franchise player in the process
-
Fast Forward What Mahmoud Khalil says about Gaza and Israel in ‘The Encampments’ documentary
-
Fast Forward Frankfurt’s Jewish community launches its own sexual abuse hotline amid crises and pressure
-
Fast Forward Trump nixes pro-Israel darling Elise Stefanik’s nomination to be UN ambassador
Most Popular
- 1
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 2
Opinion Is this new documentary giving voice to American Jewish anguish — or simply stoking fear?
- 3
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 4
Fast Forward Trump’s antisemitism chief shares ‘Jew card’ post from white supremacist
In Case You Missed It
-
Sports The Trail Blazers let Israeli starter Deni Avdija cook, and minted a franchise player in the process
-
Fast Forward What Mahmoud Khalil says about Gaza and Israel in ‘The Encampments’ documentary
-
Fast Forward Frankfurt’s Jewish community launches its own sexual abuse hotline amid crises and pressure
-
Fast Forward Trump nixes pro-Israel darling Elise Stefanik’s nomination to be UN ambassador
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.