Putin warns Israel on Syria attacks

Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin

The Russian President said at the UN that he is concerned about Israeli attacks in Syria, although he respected Israel's interests.

Following a frosty meeting with US President Barack Obama yesterday at the UN, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he was concerned about Israeli attacks in Syria, although he respected Israel's interests. As far as is known, this is the first time that Putin has publicly warned Israel against continuing its military actions in Syria aimed at preventing advanced arms from reaching Hezbollah or in retaliation for spill-over into Israeli territory of shooting from the fighting between the warring parties in Syria.

Putin did not mention any mechanism for the prevention of misunderstandings between the IDF and the Syrian army in Syria. According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, agreement for the establishment of such a mechanism was reached in his talk with Putin when Netanyahu visited Moscow last week.

Following the meeting between Obama and Putin, a senior US official said that the two presidents had agreed to arrange face-to-face meetings between their military commanders in order to prevent clashes on Syrian territory. Russian has stationed warplanes, combat helicopters, and UAVs in Latakia, and is using the UAVs for patrol flights in Syria. Russia surprised the Obama administration by signing an intelligence cooperation agreement with Iran, Iraq, and Syria to coordinate their efforts to eliminate the Islamic State.

At a press conference with Russian reporters, Putin admitted with unexpected candidness that relations between Moscow and Washington had reached a low point. He said, "We did not initiate the deterioration in relations between the two countries. This is a position taken by our US partners. I think this is a bad situation, but it is what the US has chosen. We are always willing to development contacts and renew our relations to the fullest extent."

Putin stressed, however, that his meeting with Obama at the UN, which lasted for 90 minutes, 30 minutes longer than planned, had been "useful and very candid." He added, "As surprising as it may sound, there are many points of agreement and unanimity between us about Syria, Ukraine, and the Middle East. There are also disagreements between us, and we have agreed to go on working together. I hope that this cooperation will be fruitful."

Putin said that he did not rule out using Russian warplanes in Syria, "but a land-based operation (the use of Russian ground forces) was out of the question." He emphasized that the Russian forces currently in Syria "will observe international law."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 29, 2015

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2015

Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
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