| (Communicated by the Prime Minister’s Media Adviser)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this evening (Thursday, 12 September 2019), in Sochi, at the Bocharov Ruchey , met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who welcomed him at the entrance.
Prime Minister Netanyahu made the following remarks at the start of their meeting:
„I am happy to meet you again. The relations between Russia and Israel have never been closer. On the one hand this is natural. As you said, there are over one million Russian-speakers in Israel. They constitute a living bridge between our two countries. I want to thank you again for the things you have done, for implementing the pensions agreement, and the veterans, this is something we worked on together; it is very important to our citizens.
“Tightening the relations between us, Mr. President, is also the result of two other things – our mutual, rational policy and the direct connection between us. This connection prevents unnecessary and dangerous friction between the various forces, and I say wholeheartedly that this is a fundamental component of regional stability. I very much appreciate your statement that the security of Israel is important to you. This finds expression in the meetings that we have and in the important meeting I just held with Defense Minister Shoigu. The security coordination between us is always important but it is especially important at this time because last month saw a very serious upsurge in the number of attempts by Iran to attack Israel from Syrian territory, and also to place precision missiles there against us. From our point-of-view, this is an intolerable threat and we are taking action; therefore, we must also ensure that the coordination between us prevents friction. We are indeed doing this and we will continue – I am certain – to do so in our conversation as well.
“This is the 13th meeting between us in recent years and we have advanced many things including security, economic issues, tourism, technology and many fields. But there is also an additional basis, not just actual but also historical, to the connection between us. I very much hope to see you in Israel in January to mark 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz and the dedication of the memorial to the heroes of the siege of Leningrad. We will never forget the great contribution of the Russian army and people in defeating Nazi Germany. I say this everywhere and at every opportunity, and rightly so. Mr. President, thank you very much.” |
