Russia-US meet to discuss Hamas & Iran's nuclear programme

Washington, 7 March (AKI) - Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov is holding a round of talks with US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and meeting president George W. Bush in Washington on Tuesday to discuss Russia's position on the Iranian nuclear crisis and on Hamas. Russia, which has veto power as one of the permanent members of the Security Council, is a key player in the Iran crisis currently being debated by the UN's atomic watchdog in Vienna. Russia is also important to US policies aimed at limiting aid to the Palestinian militant group since it won a landslide victory in a general election on 25 January.

Russia has proposed a potential compromise over Iran's nuclear crisis to avert UN sanctions. In a last-ditch attempt to find a solution to the impasse, Moscow proposed on Monday to let Iran produce small quantities of nuclear fuel while offering to enrich uranium on its behalf on Russian soil - a compromise reportedly rejected by the US.

The proposal was issued on the first day of a week-long meeting in Vienna of the 35-nation board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which could lead to Security Council action against Iraq.

Rice on Monday called Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of IAEA, to stress the US position that Iran "must cease all uranium enrichment-related activity," State Department spokesman Tom Casey told the Associated Press news agency.

The United States was successful in convincing Russia last month to abide by a US-backed initiative to report Iran to the Security Council. However, the United States had to agree to a delay of at least a month before the Council could decide whether to take action.

The Bush administration is also slated to demand explanations on a visit made by a Hamas delegation to Moscow last Friday on the invitation of Russian president Vladimir Putin, despite US and Israeli efforts to isolate the militant group.