The Kremlin echoed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday night with a separate statement underscoring the importance of the upcoming trilateral meeting to be held next Monday in Jerusalem between national security advisers from Russia, the United States and Israel.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was quoted by the Tass news agency as saying, “This is a very important contact. The sides will have a vital exchange of views on the situation in the region, namely the Middle East settlement, the settlement process in Syria and other issues, which they consider necessary to discuss.”
Netanyahu noted in his remarks earlier this week that the talks will be important for future stability in the region. “At the start of next week, there will be an historic and unprecedented meeting in Jerusalem between the national security advisers of the US, Russia and Israel,” the prime minister said. “This is a very important summit for ensuring stability in the Middle East during turbulent times.”
Netanyahu first announced the meeting last month, calling the upcoming talks between Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, US National Security Adviser John Bolton and his Israeli counterpart Meir Ben-Shabbat “unprecedented and historic.”
Russia has been accusing the United States of trying to provoke Iran into war by deploying additional troops to the region. The United States sent the forces in response to reported concrete evidence — limpet mine fragments the U.S. Navy said came from one of the damaged oil tankers — linking the most recent attack on two oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz to Iran. The Navy said the ordnance appeared to be Iranian in origin.
United States Army experts displaying evidence of the Iranian attack on the oil tankers. pic.twitter.com/5MX2eT5rzR
— Arab News Today (@ArabNewsToday)
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters earlier in the week that U.S. intelligence “has lots of data, lots of evidence” to support the claim that Tehran was responsible for the attack.
In addition, Israel continues its attacks in Syria to trim back and block Iran’s ongoing efforts to further entrench its military presence across Israel’s northern border. Iran has fully equipped, trained and funded Gaza’s ruling Hamas terrorist organization and its allied terror group, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror organization, urging them on as well in their continuing terrorist war of attrition along Israel’s southern border, creating an ongoing, intolerable source of stress for the residents of southern Israel.
Both terror groups have made a concerted effort to infiltrate and build a new base of operations within the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria, creating third front against which the IDF much remain constantly vigilant and engaged, in addition to the escalating hostilities now being encouraged by Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas himself — the fourth front — but who may, however, ultimately unite with those of the Iranian-backed terror groups purportedly operating against his government when it comes to waging war against Israel.