According to the Kremlin press service, President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will devote a portion of the latter’s March 9 brief working visit to Moscow to the Israeli-Palestinian Authority conflict.
“A detailed exchange of views is planned on the current situation in the Middle East, primarily in light of joint efforts to combat international terrorism,” says the Monday announcement, which adds that the two leaders “are also expected to discuss key aspects of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement.”
On Monday, Zionist Camp Chairman and Knesset opposition leader Isaac Herzogis meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, also in Moscow, to discuss a peace agreement, the semi-official news website Sputnik reported. Thwe trip comes at the invitation of MP Leonid Slutsky, Chair of the Russian parliament’s lower house’s foreign affairs committee.
Herzog told reporters on Sunday: “My meeting with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Deputy Minister Bogdanov is planned. I very much look forward to meeting them to discuss the possibilities that had emerged for a decisive regional effort at reaching peace, as well as the future possibilities in this area.”
The Russian president and the Israeli prime minister will “traditionally pay attention to pressing bilateral issues, including efforts aimed at scaling up the Russian-Israeli cooperation in trade, economy and the humanitarian area,” the Kremlin message concluded.
On Sunday, Netanyahu told his cabinet: “On Thursday I will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. One of the most important issues we will discuss is Iran’s attempt to make an agreement with Syria. With or without Syria’s agreement, Iran will attempt to establish a permanent military presence in Syria, both on land and at sea.”