MOSCOW, June 6 /TASS/. Valentina Matviyenko, the speaker of the Federation Council, the upper house of Russian parliament, said that Russia and Israel would sign a number of important documents, including a treaty on social security for pensioners, during a visit to Moscow by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Moscow.
"A treaty on pensions, which has been finalized and approved, will be signed," Matviyenko said at a meeting with Ze’ev Elkin, the minister for Jerusalem affairs, on Monday. "This important treaty between Russia and Israel will restore the social justice and confirm a special nature of relations existing between Russia and Israel," the Russian lawmaker said. According to Matviyenko, a package of documents designed to expand and deepen bilateral interaction will be signed during Netanyahu’s visit.
"The most important document will be a treaty on social security of pensioners that will make pensioners both in Russia and Israel happy," she added.
"An active political dialogue on all urgent issues helps coordinating joint efforts in the solution of many problems. This dialogue is under way both at bilateral and international levels," Matviyenko stressed.
She said that Russia and Israel should think of how to improve economic cooperation in conditions of reduced trade turnover. "The Russian-Israeli inter-governmental commission has what to work on. There are good prospects and there is an interest of business circles to deepen cooperation. The most important thing is that we have potential and we should exert every effort to make better use of it in the pharmaceuticals industry, agriculture and new technologies," the Russian Federation Council speaker said.
"We highly appreciate Russian-Israeli cooperation and are determined to actively develop our friendly and time proven relations," Matviyenko concluded.
The Russian-Israeli top-level
The Russian-Israeli top-level dialog develops perfectly, Netanyahu said in an interview with TASS First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman ahead of his visit to Moscow marking 25 years after the two countries restored diplomatic relations.
Focusing on his upcoming talks with President Vladimir Putin, the prime minister said "We are both leading the people with great past and with great aspirations. We are strengthening our relations. We have much in common, we have a lot of common interests, and our dialog develops excellently".
"We also have a common threat - radical Islam. We are cooperating on very important issues," he said, noting problems necessitating cooperation. As an example, he cited the Syrian direction, on which "our military cooperate".
The prime minister marked "amazing changes" the two countries have seen in their relations in the past 25 years. "Israel and Russia have created a true cultural bridge. More than one million Israelis speak Russia. We grew up on Russian culture and literature. This is a spiritual link between the peoples which in the long run leads to cooperation between the countries," Netanyahu said.
"Russia is a global power, while Israel is a regional power," he added.