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Putin and Netanyahu discuss chemical weapons attack in Syria
The Israeli Prime Minister and the Russian President spoke yesterday over the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria earlier this week.
According to a statement from the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a telephone conversation that it was unacceptable to make “unfounded” accusations concerning the alleged chemical weapons attack that took place in Syria.
The statement from the Russian government added that both sides “expressed readiness to expand [cooperation] in the interest of assuring stability and security in the Middle East”.
The rebuttal was a response to Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s suggestion that Syrian planes carried out the two chemical attacks, which were “directly ordered and planned by Syrian President Bashar Assad”.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, during the call, Netanyahu “called Russian President Vladimir Putin and expressed his condolences following the attack in St. Petersburg,” and also that the international community needs to “complete the effort to remove chemical weapons from Syria, as was agreed upon in 2013”.
Netanyahu, who severely condemned the usage of chemical weapons against innocent civilians in a statement on Tuesday, refrained from pointing the finger at the Syrian President, possibly to avoid displeasing Putin.
Moscow has sought to deflect blame from its Syrian ally over the attack and says Syrian jets struck a rebel arms depot where “toxic substances” were being put inside bombs.
Israel has also fostered strong relations with Moscow in order to maintain its ability to carry out airstrikes in Syria to thwart game-changing weapon transfers to Hezbollah, which is fighting alongside Assad’s forces.
On Sunday, the Israeli security cabinet will meet to discuss options for becoming more involved in Syria.
In January, Interior Minister Aryeh Deri promoted a plan to absorb 100 orphaned Syrian children on humanitarian grounds and reports suggest he may try and advance this plan further at the meeting.