Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev on Tuesday morning stated at the start of a three-way summit in Jerusalem with Israel and the US: “We understand Israel’s concerns and we want the existing threats to be eliminated so that Israel’s security be ensured, and this is very important for us.”
“At the same time,” Patrushev noted, “we should remember that other regional states also have their national interests. If we do not see, know and take them into account, I doubt that we will be able to achieve a particular result.”
The Russian representative responded to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said that the summit offers an opportunity to advance stability in the region, especially in Syria, stressing that Israel would continue to respond strongly to attacks against it from the Syrian Golan Heights, and that a future stable Syria—meaning without an Iranian presence—is in the interest of all three powers.
US National Security Adviser John Bolton and Israeli National Security Council chief Meir Ben-Shabbat made statements similar to the PM’s at the start of the trilateral talks on Syria.
Patrushev, who arrived in Jerusalem on Monday, has already held private talks with Netanyahu, Ben-Shabbat and Bolton. On Tuesday, he told the summit participants that Russia is combating terrorism jointly with Iran—which probably did not convince them.
“We have a mutual possibility to influence each other and we have an opportunity to listen to each other,” he then stated.
Considering the fact that one fellow participant, the US, on Thursday at the last-minute held back a military attack against Iran, they will probably be listening intently.
