Russia is interested in keeping the war in the Middle East going, US diplomat Dennis Ross has said in an interview with LB.ua.
Ross noted that like Iran, Russia believes that Hamas's attack on Israel was "directed against the United States".
"I think the principal focus is clearly Israel. I don't think that it's against the US per se, but I think that the Iranians who clearly support it, they will see it against Israel and the United States. And obviously, the Russians see it as a great boon because it diverts attention away from them, diverts attention away from the US, may make it harder for the US to continue to support the way it has. It obviously takes place in a larger context, but Hamas isn't driven by those other motivations, it's driven by its own focus on Israel," he said.
According to him, the United States believes that the two wars - against Ukraine and Israel - are interconnected.
"There's a reality, absolutely. The Russians clearly would like to see this go on as long as possible," Ross said.
Dennis B. Ross served as the Director of Policy Planning in the State Department under President George H. W. Bush, overseeing the Soviet Union, the reconstruction of Germany, nuclear disarmament and the end of the 1991 Gulf War. In 1993, he was appointed the special Middle East coordinator under President Bill Clinton, and on 23 February 2009 he became a special adviser for the Persian Gulf and Southwest Asia) to the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In June 2009, he joined the US National Security Council and became a Special Assistant to Barack Obama focusing on the Middle East.