Moscow: Hamas must pledge to recognize Israel

A senior Russian diplomat said Sunday that Moscow expects Hamas to make a clear pledge to recognize Israel, a news agency reported. Alexander Kalugin, the Russian Foreign Ministry's special envoy to the Middle East, said that Hamas should outline approaches to recognition of Israel in its action plan. "The main thing is that they should clearly speak on the issue of recognizing the state of Israel," Kalugin said, according to the Interfax news agency.