The essential Tom Joscelyn points to this AFP report:
Hezbollah and Hamas should be integrated into peaceful politics, and third countries should not be blamed for the current Middle East crisis, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.
“We need to find a way for Hamas and Hezbollah to achieve their largely legitimate political goals through participation in political life … and not through force,” Lavrov told the Echo Moscow radio station Wednesday, adding that less radical parts of Hezbollah and Hamas could return to peaceful politics.
In an apparent reference to US accusations of Syrian and Iranian involvement in the current crisis, Lavrov said: “If we start to think in terms of who is guilty as some other states do, directly accusing particular countries and leaders, this will only inflame passions still further,” Lavrov said.
Tom nails the conclusion:
Well, at least Syria and Iran can count on Russia to come to their defense. Nevermind that Hezbollah is a wholly-owned terrorist subsidiary of Iran and Syria, that there are reports that Iranian officers are fighting alongside Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, that the missiles being fired into Israel and at merchant ships were paid for by the Iranians (and some of their officers may have even fired them as well)…Forget all of this. Russia doesn’t want its allies held accountable.
Russia, of course, is one of the “partners” we are working closely with in our proposal to the mullahs … which took terrorism off the table.
Is anyone upset that we are more interested in avoiding trouble with people who are operating against us than we are in crushing America-hating jihadists? I doubt anyone would dare have taken that position on September 12, 2001. But I guess we’ve “evolved” since then.