Putin, Netanyahu hold crunch talks on Syria as concerns grow

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the conflict in Syria on Tuesday as concerns grow about a spiraling death toll and Moscow's arms deliveries to the Damascus government.

"I certainly expect to speak with you about the situation in the region, including around Syria," Putin told Netanyahu at the start of the talks at the Russian leader's Black Sea residence in Sochi.

"Together we can think about how to make it (the Middle East region) more secure and stable," Netanyahu replied in televised remarks.

Netanyahu is the latest world leader to knock on Putin's door for talks on Syria in recent days, after US Secretary of State John Kerry and British Prime Minister David Cameron met the Russian president last week.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is also due to travel to Russia later this week.

The West and Russia have repeatedly been at odds over the Syria conflict, with the United States and Europe accusing Moscow of seeking to prop up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and supplying his government with military hardware.

The flurry of diplomatic activity indicates some hope on the part of the West that after years of alternately cajoling and berating it, Russia could still be persuaded to soften its line over the conflict.

Cameron said on Monday after talks with US President Barack Obama that London and Moscow had found "common ground" on the crisis.

Obama was more cautious, however, saying that there "remain lingering suspicions between Russia and other members of the G8 and or the West".

The US leader added that Russia as a G8 member had an "interest as well as an obligation" to help end the violence.

Western concerns

The West and Israel are particularly concerned about Russia's refusal to rule out further deliveries of advanced S-300 missile batteries to Syria under an existing contract.

Netanyahu has been expected to emphatically warn Putin against delivering such weaponry, which would severely complicate any future air attacks against the Syrian government.

Neither leader mentioned the missiles in their opening remarks.

In recent years Putin has worked to improve relations with Israel, which is now home to a large Russian-speaking community, after tetchy ties in the former Soviet era when Moscow was perceived as staunchly pro-Arab.

The issues have some parallels with a trip Netanyahu made to Moscow in September 2009 for talks with Kremlin deemed so sensitive that the visit was kept secret at the time.

According to Israeli media, on that trip Netanyahu is believed to have raised fears about a Russian plan to deliver S-300s to Iran that Moscow eventually decided not to fulfill.

Viktor Kremenyuk, deputy director of the USA and Canada Institute, suggested that during the current trip Netanyahu would warn Putin that the Israeli air force would target the S-300s should the Kremlin decide to deliver them to Syria.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week that Moscow was "completing" supplies of equipment to Syria agreed under previous contracts.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the 2010 contract with Syria includes six launchers and 144 missiles, each with a range of 200 km.

AFP-AP

(China Daily 05/15/2013 page12)