TEL AVIV, February 24. /TASS/. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to discuss Iran’s activities in Syria with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as he himself said at a weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.
"On Wednesday, I will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. I will discuss regional developments and Iran’s aggression with him," the Israeli prime minister said as cited by his press service.
"We will also discuss ways to strengthen the coordination mechanism set up by the Israeli and Russian militaries in order to ensure stability and prevent unnecessary tensions in the region," Netanyahu added.
The Russian president and the Israeli prime minister were expected to hold talks in Moscow on February 21. The Kremlin press service said the two leaders planned to discuss pressing bilateral matters and the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestine-Israel issue and the Syrian crisis. However, the Jerusalem Post reported on Wednesday that Netanyahu’s visit to Russia "was postponed at the last minute." According to the newspaper, "no reason for the postponement was given to India, although it was also assumed to have been connected to the election campaign" as early parliamentary elections are scheduled to take place in Israel on April 9.
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS on Wednesday that a new day for a meeting between Putin and Netanyahu would be set through diplomatic channels.
It will be Netanyahu’s first visit to Russia following the downing of Russia’s Ilyushin Il-20 aircraft over the Mediterranean Sea on September 17, 2018. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the aircraft disappeared from radar during an airstrike that four Israeli F-16 fighter jets carried out on targets in the Syrian province of Latakia. The ministry stated that the aircraft had been accidently downed by Syrian air defenses as the Israeli F-16 jets had been using it as cover.
The Israeli Air Force and those who made the decision to use the Il-20 aircraft as cover are solely to blame for its crash, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said.
On November 11, 2018, Putin and Netanyahu held a brief meeting in Paris. A few days later, the Russian president said at a press conference in Singapore that they had discussed the Il-20 incident.