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Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow (AP)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners October 19, 2006 |
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Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert urged Russia on Wednesday to use its influence to help resolve the international standoff over Iran's nuclear program.
"Russia has a dominant and very important role across the world," Olmert told President Vladimir Putin at the beginning of the two leaders' meeting in the Kremlin.
"Of course, the influence that Russia enjoys today and in the future is important to contribute to stability, especially with regard to the Iranian problem, which worries all of us. Of course we are particularly sensitive to this issue," he said.
Russia -- which is building Iran's first nuclear power plant, an $800 million project -- has impeded international attempts to impose sanctions on Iran for refusing to downscale its nuclear ambitions. Moscow also has rejected international pressure to halt its construction of the plant, which Israel and the West fear could be used to divert nuclear fuel for use in producing bombs.
Israel for years has been sounding the alarm to Russia over Iran's potential to develop a nuclear weapons capability, but political experts say only the United States and, to a lesser extent, Europe are capable of persuading Moscow to harden its position against Tehran.
Olmert recalled a 2005 meeting between his predecessor Ariel Sharon and Putin in Israel.
"Your personal pledge that Russia's position toward the countries of the Middle East would never again be one-sided -- I really valued your position on this issue," Olmert said.
Relations between Russia and Israel have improved dramatically since the days of the Cold War, when Moscow helped to arm and support Arab nations fighting Israel, and barred Jews from leaving the Soviet Union.
As the Soviet Union was collapsing in the early 1990s, the two nations restored ties, and Moscow loosened the emigration restrictions, prompting more than 1 million Russian-speakers to immigrate to Israel.
Relations have been further improved by Putin, who took office in 2000.
Putin praised relations between Israel and Russia, saying that over the past few years they had been "completely transformed" and far more based on "mutual trust."
"Russia is ready to do everything it can, in its power, to contribute to a resolution of the situation (in the Middle East)," Putin told Olmert.
He said that ties between the two countries included cooperation "in such sensitive spheres as the military-technical field, including in the markets of third countries." He was referring to cooperation in the arms trade and, in particular, the 2004 deal for Israel and Russia to supply Phalcon airborne early warning systems to India.
"Say hello to your president. He really surprised us," Putin said to Olmert as reporters were being ushered out of the room ahead of their talks, "He turned out to be a strong man, raped ten women! I never would have expected it of him. He has surpised us all, we all envy him!"
Earlier this week, Israeli police recommended that President Moshe Katsav be charged with rape, aggravated sexual assault and misconduct after women who once worked for him filed complaints. Katsav has denied any wrongdoing.
In addition to the Iranian threat, Olmert was expected to discuss with Russian officials Israel's assertion that Lebanon-based Hezbollah guerrillas used Russian-made missiles in their recent war with Israel, and its fear that Palestinian militants could follow suit. Israel does not accuse Russia of directly supplying Hezbollah, but maintains the arms were sold to Syria and Iran, which sent them on to their Hezbollah proxies.
Russia denies its missiles reached Hezbollah, but Israeli media reported that Russia has issued directives to tighten arms export controls.
The Iranian threat has become the centerpiece of Olmert's political agenda since the war in southern Lebanon robbed him of his main political initiative, an ambitious plan to follow Israel's 2005 Gaza Strip withdrawal with a large-scale pullback in the West Bank.
Hezbollah's barrage of northern Israel with nearly 4,000 rockets cooled the Israeli public to the idea of further territorial concessions - especially at a time when Palestinian militants continue to send homemade rockets into Israel's south.
The Lebanon war rekindled international efforts to get peacemaking back on track and avert further conflicts, but so far, even the slightest progress has been elusive.
Russia is a member of the so-called Quartet of international Mideast peace negotiations, which proposed the "road map" peace plan that foundered shortly after it was introduced in June 2003.
After Palestinian parliamentary elections in January, Russia invited the militant group's leaders to visit, irking Israel. Since then, Russia, as a member of the Quartet, has demanded that Hamas recognize Israel, abandon violence and recognize existing peace pacts with Israel.
The Associated Press and AP reporter Henry Meyer contributed to this report.
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