Russia Wants to Get Iran Out of Syria, Netanyahu Says After Putin Meet

Russia won’t limit Israel’s actions in Syria, says Israeli official

FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands after their talks in Sochi, Russia, August 23, 2017.Alexei Nikolsky,AP

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow that getting the Iranians and all foreign fighters out of Syria is also one of Russia’s stated goals. A diplomatic source added that Putin did not place limitations on Israel’s actions in Syria.

Netanyahu said the meeting with Putin was “good and productive,” emphasizing that Putin accepted his invitation to visit Jerusalem.

In a Tweet on Wednesday, Putin said he would participate in the opening ceremony for a new monument in Jerusalem commemorating victims and survivors of the World War II Siege of Leningrad. There is no date set yet for this visit, which the two countries will agree on a later time.

Netanyahu added that the two spoke mostly about Iranian entrenchment in Syria and the S-300 air-defense system that Russia delivered to Syria in September.

The prime minister also said that the Israeli delegation brought with it to the meeting intelligence materials. He added that Russia seeks to get Syria back to the way it was before the civil war.

Regarding Israel’s actions in Syria, the diplomatic source told reporters that “the policy is that we will continue to act and it’s accepted with understanding.”

Referring to the downing of the Russian spy plane in Syria in September 2018, the source added that the crisis is “behind us.”