Grounds and Factors Underlying Development of Russia's Relations with Hamas

Russia’s relations with Hamas organization are very important. On the one hand, the organization is on the list of terrorist organizations in the United States and Europe while, on the other hand, Moscow’s relations with this Palestinian group are characterized by a host of political contradictions. Hamas, at least in words, has always supported Islamist movements across the world, including the Chechen separatist movement in North Caucasus. Following the second war with Chechnya, the Kremlin has been always warning about a new plot to establish Islamic caliphate. However, despite opposition of the United States and Israel, which have close ties with Moscow, relations between Hamas and Russia have been on the rise since the organization was established. The present research tries to answer this question: Why Russia considers relations with Hamas important? To answer that question, their relations as well as various grounds, factors, goals and consequences of those relations have been studied. Evidence shows that by expanding ties with Hamas and playing the role of a balancing factor, Russia has been trying to disturb the United States unilateral world order and improve its position as an effective international power.