Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, Al-Jazeera reported on Thursday.
According to the report, Mashal told the Russian official that Hamas was ready for a truce with Israel.
In a conflicting report, London-based daily Asharq Al-Awsat cited Mashaal as saying that "there will never be any contact between us and Israel!"