President Peres held a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister, Mr. Sergei Lavrov. In their joint remarks following the meeting, the Russian FM stated that Russia “appreciates” its relationship with Israel and described it as “on the rise.” He added that his visit aims to widen and deepen cooperation across several issues, including economic ones. President Peres responded that Israel places importance on the relations between Israel and Russia, which he described as “widening, deepening, and becoming more meaningful.”

The President emphasized in his remarks the military balance in the Middle East, thanking the Foreign Minister for his declaration in Syria in August 2008 that Russia would not supply any weapons that could disturb the military balance in the Middle East: “Weapons should be for self-defense, rather than aggression. I was relieved when I heard from you that this principle remains as it was in the past.”

FM Lavrov responded to the President’s remarks: “As President Peres just said, Russia is committed to strictly implementing all international norms and limitations, and we have never violated those international standards and internationally agreed norms. We have very strict, expert control at the national level. We know only too well what happens when military balance has been distorted… So we will be strictly adhering to the principal of not disturbing the balance, including the balance in the supply of arms and armaments, and including the need to strictly abide by international norms and agreements.”

FM Lavrov added that President Peres and he “discussed the situation in the broad region. It’s not very encouraging. The threats and challenges have been multiplying and we want to see a real cooperative effort by the international community, including the Quartet, including the countries of the region, including the Arab League, the efforts aimed at normalizing the situation and creating conditions for resolving remaining conflicts in the area.”

During the meeting, FM Lavrov began by speaking in warm tones: your presence during the victory march in the Red Square was very important to Russia including Israel’s recognition of Russia’s contribution to the end of the Second World War. We greatly value the relations between Russia and Israel and have already adopted your idea to cooperate in the fields of agriculture and high-tech. Even during this visit, we have made significant advances in the existing agreements for cooperation between our two countries. In fact, we have established several forums for Russian and Israeli experts to advance joint projects.

On the issue of the peace process, FM Lavrov spoke about three central developments that will occur in September: the end of the building freeze, the end of the four months granted by the Arab League for proximity talks, and the UN Summit that will bring together the Quartet, the Arab League, and the UN Security Council. We are entering the most critical of times, FM Lavrov said, and added that we must make arrangements for the critical moments to prevent extremists from stealing the agenda and damaging the building of trust. The Foreign Minister also stated that Russia, alongside the international community, supports significant advancements towards peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and also supports the immediate transition from proximity talks to direct ones. He added that from a political perspective, there must be significant breakthroughs in the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians; and that it is important to adhere to the principle of continued dialogue including discussion of the most central challenges. It is important for reason to win before extremists raise their head.

During the meeting with both delegations the President and the Foreign Minister discussed the Iranian threat. President Peres said, “We must understand that Iran is bluffing! Iran is directly on the path to gain a nuclear weapon. And I am telling you that based on firm, verified intelligence. All of us, whether in Israel or in Russia, will not sleep peacefully at night if Iran gains a nuclear weapon. Israel views this matter with the utmost seriousness. We do not intend to leave any opening for danger. I recommend everyone behave likewise.”

The President also thanked Russia for its involvement in advancing economic sanctions against Iran and added that there exist obvious problems that must be dealt with, including North Korea which has become a duty-free for nuclear arms and sells its technologies to several countries.

The President also stated the importance of construing a shield of anti-missile systems across the countries of the Middle East to protect them from Iran: “Iran must know that its missiles will meet the highest barrier of anti-missile technology.”

On the issue of the peace process the President stated that “Israel is committed to advancing peace. I say in every place and also to Mahmoud Abbas, we must sit directly and advance the negotiations to achieve peace. There exists no other alternatives and there exists a real need for urgency.”

(President’s media advisor – Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)