All news

Kremlin does not rule out new Putin-Netanyahu contacts

On Sunday, the Israeli prime minister said that during the recent telephone conversation with the Russian leader they agreed to meet "soon"

MOSCOW, October 8. /TASS/. Work is in progress on new contacts between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but it is too early to talk about specific dates yet, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"As for Netanyahu, we do not rule out that such contacts (with Putin) can take place, but there are no specific dates yet," he said.

On Sunday, the Israeli prime minister said at a weekly meeting of his Cabinet that during the recent telephone conversation with the Russian leader they agreed to meet soon "to continue important coordination" between the two countries’ armed forces. That will be the first meeting between Putin and Netanyahu after the Il-20 plane crash.

Russia’s Ilyushin Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft was downed over the Mediterranean on September 17 when it was flying back to the Russian airbase at Syria’s Hmeymim. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the plane was shot down by a missile from a Syrian S-200 air defense system when it was firing at four Israeli F-16 aircraft attacking targets in the Latakia governorate. The Israeli pilots actually hid behind the Russian plane exposing it to Syrian missiles, the ministry stressed.