Putin says Russia is working to free hostages in Gaza conflict

President Vladimir Putin told leaders of Russia's Jewish community on Wednesday that Moscow had achieved "specific results" in diplomatic efforts to free hostages caught up in Israel's conflict with Hamas, Russian news agencies reported.

"You know, since the situation became more tense in the Middle East, Russia has been doing everything to help people who became hostages," Putin was quoted as saying, reports www.ynetnews.com. "As is known, our Foreign Ministry worked through the political wing of Hamas and, on the whole, there have been specific results." Putin did not elaborate, according to the reported comments.

Moscow's efforts, though directed at helping Russian nationals, also sought to help others, the president said. "They include elderly people and their family members who survived the Holocaust," he was quoted as saying. "But I know, I understand, that it is vital to carry on with these efforts. And that is what we are doing."

Russia, which has drawn closer to Israel's arch-rival Iran since the outbreak of the nearly two-year-old Ukraine conflict, has restated its support for Palestinian statehood, and criticiזed Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip and has said the violence in the Middle East is a reflection of U.S. policy failures in the region.
Putin's reference to Holocaust survivors comes a day after Russia's foreign ministry told the Israeli ambassador, Simona Halperin, of its "negative reaction" to her criticisms of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian policy.