Putin, Netanyahu meet to discuss Syria

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on a brief working visit to Russia, met on Tuesday, May 14, to discuss the situation in Syria and the Middle East, with missile deliveries likely to be on the agenda, RIA Novosti reported.

Opening the meeting, Putin said he expects the discussions to focus on Syria, but did not mention Russia's arms deliveries.

Netanyahu suggested discussing “ways to bring stability to this region, to make it safer, to make it more peaceful.”

A high-ranking source in Jerusalem said earlier that Netanyahu will discuss Russian weapons supplies to Syria. Israel's Haaretz daily said Netanyahu was likely to ask Putin not to supply advanced S-300 air defense missile systems to Syria.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Israel has warned the United States that Russia plans to sell S-300 to Syria. Damascus has traditionally relied on Moscow for supplies of weapons, particularly air defense systems.

Israel has previously put pressure on Moscow not to deliver S-300 to Iran, another of its regional enemies and a close ally of Syria. S-300 is widely acknowledged by defense analysts as one of the world's most advanced air defense systems.

"An S-300 battery would provide coverage of much of northern and central Israel if deployed in the south west of Syria for targets other than those at low altitude," said Douglas Barrie, an air warfare analyst with the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies.

The Israeli Air Force attacked what it said were stocks of advanced missiles in Syria on May 5.

Putin met British Prime Minister David Cameron last week in Sochi to discuss the situation in Syria. Cameron is currently in the United States for talks with President Obama over the situation in Syria.