ST. PETERSBURG, June 2. /TASS/. Moscow maintains contacts with the Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas and will be prepared to provide a platform for negotiations if need be, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Wednesday. 

"We maintain contacts with Fatah, Hamas and other Palestinian organizations. If they wish to hold a meeting, Moscow, we believe, is a convenient place for all Palestinians to get together and negotiate," he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Cairo said Egypt had invited the leaders of Fatah and Hamas and also other Palestinian factions to enter into negotiations on an inter-Palestinian settlement. The talks are to be co-chaired by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. A corresponding invitation to the Palestinians was sent when the chief of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate, Abbas Kamel, visited Gaza and the West Bank. Cairo has called upon the partakers to draft a road map plan for the reconciliation of Palestinian factions. The talks are expected to promote a common Palestinian stance, end rifts between movements and form a government of national unity.