TEL AVIV, June 17. /TASS/. The summit of Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden in Geneva evoked great interest in Israel where the government of new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will build relations with these two key countries, Israeli public and political figure, former lawmaker Leonid Litinetsky told TASS on Thursday.
"Israel views this summit in Geneva very seriously, primarily, as a meeting of the two states vital for it: the United States that is Israel’s long-standing strategic partner and Russia with which Israel’s relations have climbed to the highest level in their entire history in the past few years," the Israeli expert pointed out.
"This summit is especially important for Israel as the meeting took place after two major and determining events: the inauguration of [US] President Joe Biden and the new US administration coming to power at the beginning of the year, as well as the oath of office taken by new Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett [on June 13] and the Cabinet just a few days ago. Within the framework of the efforts by the new Israeli Cabinet of Ministers to establish relations with Russia and the United States, this summit is very important," Litinetsky stressed.
"Naturally, the summit in Geneva was broadly covered in Israel and the results of this encounter are evoking great interest. This is a big and important step for the entire Middle East and for Israel’s understanding of the vectors of building relations with Washington and Moscow literally right after the new Israeli government assumed office. We, of course, do not know all the details but I believe that nuclear threats were certainly discussed and in this regard the issue related to Iran and its nuclear program is essential for Israel. In this respect, the fact that Moscow and Washington have agreed to launch a dialogue on strategic stability is a cause for satisfaction," the expert went on to say.
"I want to note that today we see increasingly frequently that the solution of the issues of international relations goes over to the sphere of electronic communications but, nonetheless, all the classical patterns continue to prevail from my point of view. Over hundreds of years, personal meetings by the heads of state have proven their efficiency in safeguarding the interests of two states and they cannot be replaced by discussions on electronic platforms. That is why, as it is already obvious, the Biden-Putin meeting proved to be more productive both personally and in terms of the relations of two states than the statements and the exchange of remarks on electronic platforms, including the media," Litinetsky added.
Putin-Biden summit
The Russian-US summit proposed by Washington took place in Geneva on June 16. Putin and Biden discussed the state and the prospects of bilateral relations, strategic stability issues and also the international agenda, including interaction in the anti-coronavirus fight and the settlement of regional conflicts.