Putin and Hamas

What is Putin up to?

"We need to recognize that Hamas has come to power as a result of a legitimate election, and we need to respect the will of the Palestinian people," Putin said in Madrid after meeting with Spain's prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

"To burn bridges would be the simplest action, but it lacks perspective."

Perspective like the majority of the Palestinian government are members in an organization that calls for the elimination of the Israeli state, have advocated violence to obtain that end and have funded and organized such violence?

Hamas, which has carried out dozens of suicide attacks on Israeli targets, won last month's Palestinian legislative elections and may form the next government.

The United States and the European Union classify Hamas as a terrorist group, but Putin said Russia does not.

"We have never considered Hamas a terrorist organization," he said.

Could it be that Putin only views groups as terrorists if the attack Russia or their interests? What would Putin say if the US started recognizing Chenyen terrorist groups?

Hamas is a terrorist organization by all the facts on the books. The Palestinian government is a majority held government by Hamas. I will agree that they were legitimately and democratically voted into office. Still doesn't mean that they should be funded or considered a world partner when they obviously have no intention of "playing nice" with their regional neighbor.