Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday morning flies to Moscow for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Prime Minister intends to reiterate the fact that the Golan Heights will not be part of the discussion on any outline to resolve Syria’s internal strife.
According to an Israeli government press release, the meeting’s main goal is to continue the ongoing link between Israel and Russia in order to prevent friction in Syria.
The Prime Minister will express Israel’s strong opposition to the presence of Iranian forces and Iran’s proxies, on Israel’s northern border and in the Mediterranean Sea, in the context of the talks on a permanent settlement of the Syrian civil war.
Netanyahu is accompanied by Minister Zeev Elkin, Acting National Security Advisor and Head of the National Security Council Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Jacob Nagel, the head of the PM’s staff Yoav Horowitz, GOC Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Herzl Halevy, and the PM’s Military Secretary, Brig.-Gen. Eliezer Toledano.
The Prime Minister will meet with President Putin at 1 PM Israel time and return to Israel in the evening.
Netanyahu said in a statement: “This is a very important meeting for the security of Israel. Victory over the terrorism of ISIS cannot lead to an upsurge in terrorism by Iran and its proxies. We will not exchange terrorism for terrorism.”