MOSCOW, February 14 (RIA Novosti) - The visit by Hamas representatives to Russia will offer the new Palestinian leadership an opportunity to return to the norms outlined by the United Nations, the French prime minister said Tuesday.
"I want Hamas to realize that it is being given a chance to follow the way defined by UN resolutions," Dominique de Villepin said live on Ekho Moskvy radio during his official visit to the Russian capital.
The premier laid out the conditions that had to be met by Hamas in order to begin talks: giving up any kind of violence, acknowledging Israel's right to exist and recognizing previously reached agreements between Israel and Palestine.
President Vladimir Putin announced during a visit to Spain last week that he was planning to invite the leaders of Hamas, the radical movement that won a landslide victory in Palestine's general elections in late January, to Moscow for talks.
Hamas has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks on Israel and refuses to recognize the Jewish state as a country. Its victory has endangered the peace process in the region and jeopardized Western aid to the Palestinian National Authority.
