The Palestinian group Hamas must be involved if there is to be movement towards peace in the Middle East, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Vienna on Wednesday. "Unless we engage Hamas, which came to power as a result of free and fair elections, nothing will change," Lavrov told a press conference after meeting Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik. Austria currently holds the presidency of the 25-nation European Union.Lavrov said Russia welcomed "steps taken by our Egyptian colleagues, who already started contacting Hamas. "We will be working in the same direction," Lavrov said. "My point is that responsible people should approach the situation from the point of view of whether we want something to be done."