Russian President Vladimir Putin inspecting an honor guard in Jerusalem Thursday. (Eyal Warshavsky) Posted on 04/28/2005 10:36:33 AM PDT by Destro
Last update - 19:50 28/04/2005
Sharon to Putin: You are among brothers
Putin to PM: Russian arms will not endanger Israel
Russian President Vladimir Putin inspecting an honor guard in Jerusalem Thursday. (Eyal Warshavsky)
By Aluf Benn and Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Agencies
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Russian President Vladimir Putin decided during their meeting in Jerusalem Thursday to significantly increase intelligence cooperation between their two countries.
"We are strategic allies when it comes to anything to do with [the war against] terror," Putin told Sharon.
Putin also promised Sharon during their three-hour meeting that Russian weapons will not endanger Israel.
The two leaders decided to set up a joint mechanism to battle terrorism, with a system to transfer information in real time, Israel Radio reported.
One major issue raised by Sharon during the meeting was Israeli fears that Russian weapons will be sold to Iran and other Arab countries, which could end up in the hands of terror groups.
Putin told Sharon that Israel needs to inform Russia of any such incident and he would do everything he can to prevent it. "Russian weapons will not endanger Israel," Putin said. The Russian president told Sharon that his visit to Israel was meant to turn over a new leaf in relations between Jerusalem and Moscow and to mend any mistakes made in the past.
Putin also said that "a nuclear Iran worries us just as much as it does you," reiterating comments he made earlier in the day.
Sharon said ahead of the meeting that he was glad Putin had chosen to visit Israel so close to the 60th anniversary of the Allies' victory over Nazi Germany.
"The Jewish people and the State of Israel will never forget how the Soviet Union liberated the concentration camps," Sharon said.
The prime minister said he hoped the visit will improve relations between the two country, and then turned to Putin to say in Russian, "You are among friends."
Putin arrived in Tel Aviv on Wednesday night in a landmark first visit to Israel by a Russian head of state. President Moshe Katsav is the official host of the 40-hour visit.
Another major issue on the agenda for Putin's visit was the planned sale of Russian missiles to Syria, which has caused much concern in Israel. Putin however on Thursday defended the sale and sought to ally Israeli fears that the arms would wind up in the hands of terror groups. Putin said that he vetoed the sale of longer-range missiles to Syria in order not to upset the military balance in the Middle East
Speaking at a press conference after his morning meeting with Katsav, Putin said he was aware of the Israeli concerns that the missiles from the planned sale could fall into the hands of Lebanese guerrillas, but said such concerns were unfounded.
"There are disagreements between the Russian president and myself, despite the steps that the president has taken to minimize the dangers," Katsav reporters. "In recent days Syria has given Hezbolah additional rockets."
Putin also said Thursday said that Iran needs to do more to assure the world it is not trying to build atomic weapons. Putin said Tehran's agreement to return spent nuclear fuel to Russia - which agreed to supply the material to Iran's Bushehr plant - "does not seem to be enough."
He said that in addition, the Iranians should "abandon all technology to create a full nuclear cycle and also not obstruct their nuclear sites from international control."
Iran has long denied accusations it is secretly seeking nuclear arms and has received strong backing from Putin, who sees cooperation with the Islamic Republic as a way to strengthen Russia's role in the Middle East.
In February, Moscow and Tehran signed a fuel supply deal long opposed by Washington, which believes Iran could use Russian know-how to make nuclear weapons.
Katsav also told Putin that Russia has a responsibility to fight growing anti-Semitism in the country, while both leaders said they were interested in further improving ties.
"I believe this official visit will be a milestone in the development of relations between us," Katsav said.
Putin visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem after meeting Sharon.
Speaking at the start of their meeting at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, Putin said in return that he wanted to cooperate more closely with Israel in fighting terror.
He emphasized the joint challenges facing Israel and Russia, primarily "the struggle against terrorism and extremism," as well as the need to continue the fight against anti-Semitism, xenophobia and lack of tolerance.
The Russian president commented on the fact that his visit falls 60 years after the victory over the Nazis. "The Nazi aggression did not break the spirit of our nations," he said. "Today it is right to remember that our liberty and our right to exist came at the hands of a struggle."
The Russian leader spent the morning at the President's Residence, where he presented a sculpture by a famous Georgian artist depicting concentration camp victims, and issue a joint declaration with Katsav.
Sources in Jerusalem said Thursday that Putin's proposal for a conference went against agreements reached between Jerusalem and Moscow ahead of the Russian leader's visit.
The two countries had agreed that neither side would surprise the other with unprepared remarks, and Putin's proposal came as huge surprise to Israel.
Nevertheless, the sources said, Putin is known for spontaneity, and the conference proposal had apparently been a last minute decision which came in response to an Israeli invitation to visit the Western Wall.
Putin's proposal for an international conference on the Middle East was raised in Cairo at his press conference with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and was immediately shot down by government sources in Israel and by White House spokesman Scott McClellan, who said, "We believe there will be an appropriate time for an international conference, but we are not at that stage now and I don't expect that we will be there by the fall."
Asaf Shariv, a top Sharon adviser, said the road map calls for a conference only in its "second phase," after the Palestinians have dismantled militant groups. "We are very far from that phase right now," he said. "I think it [the conference] is very premature."
...
Iran has long denied accusations it is secretly seeking nuclear arms and has received strong backing from Putin, who sees cooperation with the Islamic Republic as a way to strengthen Russia's role in the Middle East.
Now there's an interesting compare-and-contrast from the article.
Putin would like Iran to be to Russia what Suadi Arabia is to America.
Someone explain to me what is really going on here ? I don't understand this Putin in Israel thing. Is it the arms sales business, I know something is not visible to us up front.
:)
If America can sell weapon systems to Saudi Arabia and still be Israel's "friend" why can't Russia sell the same to Syria?
The two leaders decided to set up a joint mechanism to battle terrorism, with a system to transfer information in real time, Israel Radio reported.
That's all well and good, IF Putin REALLY means it, which I sincerely doubt. He's up to something. LOL Wasn't it just last month that Russia sold a lot of military equipment to Iran?
I don't see how Iran can get to Israel with what was sold to them from Russia.
With putin being a former KGB agent, I wonder if Natan Sharansky asked him for an apology for all those years in jail for being a "refusnik"?
"Russian arms will not endanger Israel." That would be an historic first. Russian arms have been endangering Israel for the last 40-odd years.
I thought they sold them something that could be used to make or deliver nuclear bombs? That happened at 'least' a month ago. How can I expect to remember anything from a month ago? LOL I sure hope you're right, though. :)
"during their three-hour meeting that Russian weapons will not endanger Israel."
No russian AKM tooling in Iran or Egypt...cough BS cough cough... well not directly I guess...3rd party = you sure betcha...
Judging from the combat performance of Russian weapons throughout the world, he's correct.
BTW: Has there ever been a documented case of a Russian tank besting a western model since WW II? And has a MiG-29 managed to shoot down anything tougher than a Cessna full of leaflets yet?
I read no such thing. Source?
Meaning?
This is all well and good, as far as it goes. It's "nice" that Putin's in Israel and he's saying pleasant things. Beyond that, I don't know how to comment.
"Putin to PM: Russian arms will not endanger Israel"
Yeah, right! And Santa's sled is pulled by 10 winged purple hippos!
Good fences make good neighbors?
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