Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on July 11, 2018. (Yuri Kadobnov / AFP / Getty Images)
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Moscow on Thursday and hold a meeting with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, the Israeli PM’s office announced on Tuesday.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the visit. However, he didn’t provide details regarding the agenda that will be discussed by the two leaders.
“An agreement has been reached that on April 4, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will fly to Moscow for a brief working visit. On April 4, such brief working talks will be held and the sides will synchronize their watches,” the Russian news agency, TASS, quoted Peskov as saying.
Netanyahu spoke with Putin over the phone last Monday. The two leaders discussed the situation in Syria and the continued coordination between the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and the Russian military.
“You know how important this relationship is for Israel,” Netanyahu said after the phone call, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Last February, Netanyahu visited Russia for the first time since the downing of the Russian Il-20 intelligence plane over Syria in September of 2018. Moscow had held Tel Aviv responsible for the incident that led to the death of 15 Russian service members.
Netanyahu’s new visit to Moscow is taking place five days ahead of the Israeli elections. The prime minister has been working hard in the framework of his election campaign to present himself as a key power broker in the Middle East.
It’s expected that following the upcoming talks Netanyahu will claim that the sides have reached “understanding” and Moscow is de-facto supporting the U.S. decision to recognize the Golan Heights as Israel as well as Israeli airstrikes in Syria.
