London ¨C Russian President Vladimir Putin waited three days before commenting on Hamas¡¯ massacre of Israelis, which happened to take place on his 71st birthday. When he did, he blamed the United States, not Hamas.
¡°I think that many will agree with me that this is a clear example of the failed policy in the Middle East of the United States, which tried to monopolize the settlement process,¡± Putin told Iraq¡¯s prime minister.
It was a further six days before Putin spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to offer his condolences over the killing of around 1,200 Israelis. Ten days after that, Russia said a Hamas delegation was in Moscow for talks.
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