Israeli President, Russian Ambassador Discuss Regional Crises, Bilateral Agenda - Embassy

TEL AVIV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th January, 2019) Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov discussed on Wednesday the Syrian and Palestinian problems as well as bilateral cooperation, the Russian Embassy in Israel said on Wednesday.

"During the conversation, the sides have praised the trust-based nature of the Russian-Israeli dialogue. We have expressed confidence that we need to boost mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries ... The parties thoroughly exchanged opinions on the middle East agenda with a focus on the situation in Syria and Palestine.

Some issues of the bilateral relations have also been discussed," the Russian diplomatic mission said in a statement.

A source in Israel told Sputnik that the meeting had been held at the initiative of the Israeli party.

Russia and Israel are actively cooperating on the Syrian issue despite the September incident that resulted in the crash of Russia's Il-20 military plane hit by Syrian air defense systems. The Russian Defense Ministry blamed the crash on the Israeli Air Force, claiming that the Israeli jets used the Russian aircraft as a shield against Syrian air defense systems during an air raid.