UPDATE 1-Russia says to continue contacts with Hamas

OTTAWA, Mar 6 (Reuters) Russia today said it would maintain contacts ith Palestinian militant group Hamas and urged other nations interested in building Middle East peace to do the same.

The remarks by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov could increase tensions with Israel, which criticized Russia's decision to invite a Hamas delegation to Moscow over the weekend for talks.

Hamas is forming a new Palestinian government following its victory in the January 25 parliamentary elections. The visit to Moscow was its first to a major foreign power.

Russia, along with the United States, the European Union and the United Nations, is a member of the Quartet group, which is searching for an Israeli-Palestinian settlement.

''I believe this (meeting) was very useful. We agreed to continue the contacts and I hope that all others who can contribute to the implementation of the Quartet statement should do the same,'' Lavrov told reporters in English.

The Quartet -- which has drafted a so-called road map designed to restore peace in the Middle East -- said in late January that the Palestinians risk losing international aid if Hamas does not renounce violence and recognize Israel.

Lavrov repeated the Quartet's position to Hamas in Moscow, but Hamas rejected it.

''It (the meeting) was not about us trying to make them like what we told them. It was about making sure that the message does not remain on paper but rather begins to be implemented,'' Lavrov said after talks with Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay in Ottawa.

''What was important (was) that Hamas did not rule out the resumption of the negotiating process ... on the basis of the road map.'' Israel said Russia erred by meeting Hamas before Hamas had made commitments such as recognizing Israel and renouncing violence. Russia said it was useful to negotiate with the group, but pledged not to do anything that would harm Israeli security.

Hamas has largely adhered to a truce that militant factions declared in March 2005 and has suggested the truce could be extended if Israel gave up land it captured in the 1967 Middle East War.

Lavrov also noted that Hamas had welcomed the idea of an international monitoring mechanism to ensure that aid sent to the Palestinian population was not used for military means.

REUTERS VJ RA VJ RAI0130