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UK minister’s words about Hamas delegation’s visit to Moscow offensive – Russian embassy

The diplomatic mission believes that Grant Shapps is “like a magician, trying to divert attention from London’s own unbalanced line in the Middle East settlement”

LONDON, October 27. /TASS/. Russia’s embassy to London considers UK Defense Minister Grant Shapps’ remarks about the visit of a Hamas delegation to Moscow as offensive and provocative, the embassy said in a statement.

"UK Defense Minister Grant Shapps took to the social networks to describe the most recent contacts with representatives of Hamas in Moscow as ‘tyranny meeting terrorism’ and to follow this up with a number of other obscene statements," the diplomats said.

"We regard these comments as outright offensive and provocative. With his futile accusations against Russia of supporting terrorism, the Brit, like a magician, is trying to divert attention from London’s unbalanced line in the Middle East settlement," they added.

The embassy pointed out that the "contacts in Moscow were subordinated, above all, to the primary humanitarian task of liberating foreign hostages in the Gaza Strip," among whom are British nationals.

"Unlike the UK, the Russian diplomacy is reinforcing through concrete action its readiness to leave no stone unturned in order to achieve a settlement of the conflict in the interests of all peoples and countries of the region," the statement said.

"It is time for London to realize that the only way to end the suffering of innocent civilians and achieve the release of those forcibly detained is by ensuring a ceasefire and establishing dialogue with all parties to the conflict," the embassy added.

The Russian embassy recalled that "the tragic events in the region, starting with the October 7 horrific attack on Israel, were to a significant extent the result of the long-term destructive line of London's American allies to sabotage the resolution of the fundamental issues in this long-standing conflict, the desire to replace the good-faith participation in the Middle East settlement with the promotion of palliative measures of an economic nature."

With his unacceptable remarks, Shapps "has confirmed the insincerity of the British leadership’s declarations regarding its intention of seeking ways to diplomatically resolve the crisis in the Middle East.".