(Al-Monitor) Maxim A. Suchkov - Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Moscow on Wednesday for the first time since Syria accidentally shot down a Russian reconnaissance plane in September 2018, killing 15 Russian airmen. Putin said, "We have been planning this meeting for some time. Life moves forward and requires consultations at the top level." The issue of Iran - its regional ambitions and proxies in Syria and Lebanon - has dominated all of the 11 times the two leaders have met since 2015. The Israelis reportedly brought updated maps of Iranian positions in Syria to show the Russians. Netanyahu invited Putin to the opening of a special Jerusalem monument devoted to the victims of the siege of Leningrad during World War II. The 872-day military blockade undertaken by Nazi Germany against the Russian city - today Putin's native St. Petersburg - led to the death of 630,000-1,500,000 people, mostly from starvation. The Israeli initiative to build a monument to this event was greatly appreciated by Russia and Putin accepted the invitation. The writer is a non-resident expert at the Russian International Affairs Council.
2019-03-01 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive