Russia called on Wednesday for an easing of pressure on the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority but the United States said an aid embargo must remain in place until the Palestinians meet conditions set out by western powers. Underlining differences ahead of a meeting in Berlin to discuss Hamas and its new coalition with President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said conditions drawn up by the quartet of Middle East mediators were still valid. Full Story