Putin to discuss situation in Middle East, antiterror efforts with Netanyahu

MOSCOW/TEL AVIV, September 21. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will on Monday discuss with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urgent issues of bilateral cooperation and the situation in the Middle East, the Kremlin press service reported. "Urgent issues of bilateral cooperation and the international agenda are scheduled to be discussed during talks. In particular, the sides are expected to exchange opinions on the issue of the Middle East peace process and the fight against the global terrorist threat," the Kremlin said. Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov told TASS "this will be a business and frank conversation between two leaders." He said Putin and Netanyahu "meet rather often and talk by phone." Earlier, the Israeli prime minister’s office reported that Netanyahu would visit Moscow "to discuss with Russian President Vladimir Putin issues of Russian military presence in Syria." "The prime minister will present his considerations regarding what threats this may present for Israel as a result of increased flow of advanced weapons and its getting via the Syrian arena to the hands of the Hezbollah movement and other terrorist organizations," the office said. Earlier, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow could consider Damascus’ request on sending Russian troops to Syria should such a request be received. But he warned that it was hard to consider that theoretically. Russia has repeatedly underscored that Syria needs assistance to effectively fight the spread of terrorism. Read more