Baku-APA. Israel and Russia agreed on Monday to coordinate military actions over Syria in order to avoid accidentally trading fire, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a visit to Moscow, APA reports quoting Reuters.
Recent Russian reinforcements for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which regional sources say include warplanes and anti-aircraft systems, worry Israel, whose jets have on occasion bombed the neighboring Arab country to foil suspected handovers of advanced arms to Assad's Lebanese guerrilla ally Hezbollah.
Briefing Israeli reporters after he met Russian President Vladimir Putin, Netanyahu said he had come with the goal of "prevent(ing) misunderstandings between IDF (Israel Defense Force) units and Russian forces" in Syria, where Assad is fighting Islamist-dominated insurgents in a civil war.
Netanyahu added that he and Putin "agreed on a mechanism to prevent such misunderstandings". He did not elaborate. There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin.
In earlier remarks as he welcomed Netanyahu to the presidential residence of Novo-Ogaryovo, outside Moscow, Putin said Russian actions in the Middle East would always be "responsible".
Underlining the importance of Netanyahu's one-day visit to Moscow, Israel's premier took along the chief of its armed forces and the general in charge of Israeli military intelligence.
Putin, who shares Western concern about the spread of Islamic State influence, has pledged to continue military support for Assad, assistance that Russia says is in line with international law. Russia has been focusing forces on Syria's coast, where Moscow keeps a big Mediterranean naval base.
The United States, which along with its allies has been flying missions against Islamic State insurgents in Syria, has also been holding so-called "deconfliction" talks with Russia.
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