Israeli, Russian military experts may meet in Moscow in coming days

Israeli and Russian experts may gather for another meeting to discuss coordination on Syria in the coming days in Moscow, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a government meeting on Sunday.

"I talked to Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday. We agreed that the delegations of Russian and Israeli armies on coordination on Syria will meet as soon as possible. I hope this will be in the coming days, most likely in Moscow. And our meeting with President Putin will be held later," Netanyahu said, according to his press service.

Putin and Netanyahu held a phone conversation on Saturday at the initiative of the Israeli side, the Kremlin press service said. The sides reached an agreement to "work on the next personal meeting of the two countries’ leaders."

"This [phone conversation] was a follow-up to the talks in Paris, which were very crucial for ensuring the continuing cooperation, which the Russian Army and the Israeli Defense Forces have maintained for several years," Netanyahu said on Sunday.

The two leaders had a brief conversation in Paris on November 11 on the sidelines of the events marking the 100th anniversary of the World War I Armistice.

Netanyahu said he told the Russian leader on Saturday that the Jewish state would continue its policy to prevent the creation of Iran’s military bases in Syria and go on with its steps against the handover of high-precision weapons to Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement and its tunnels crossing into Israel.

On Tuesday, Israel’s Defense Forces launched Operation Northern Shield to expose and destroy tunnels, built by the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah, crossing into Israel.

On September 17, Russia’s Il-20 aircraft was accidently downed by Syrian air defenses over the Mediterranean Sea when it was returning to the Hmeymim airbase. Russian top brass said a missile from Syria’s S-200 system downed the aircraft when it targeted four Israeli F-16 fighter jets, which attacked facilities in Latakia. All 15 Russian crew members were killed in the tragedy. The Israeli Air Force and those who made the decision to use the Il-20 aircraft as cover are solely to blame for its crash, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said.