Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel this week to the Black Sea resort of Sochi to meet on Wednesday (August 23) with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The two leaders are set “to discuss the latest developments in the region,” according to a release by the Prime Minister’s Office.
In the past two years Netanyahu has met with Putin every few months in order to discuss bilateral and regional issues, and “to prevent friction between the Israeli and Russian air forces in Syria, so far successfully,” his office said.
Iran is in the process of trying to establish a Shi’ite Crescent from Tehran through to the Mediterranean Sea coast off Lebanon, via Iraq, Syria and its ties with Hezbollah in Beirut.
Israel has repeatedly warned it will not allow Iran to establish a permanent presence along its borders in Syria, and undoubtedly that issue will be among those discussed Wednesday in Sochi.