Russian, Israeli security chiefs meet in Moscow

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - The heads of Russian and Israeli national security councils met Thursday in Moscow to discuss the situation in Syria and bilateral relations, the Russian Security Council press office said in a statement.

"Nikolai Patrushev and Meir Ben-Shabbat exchanged views on a number of topics of Russian-Israeli cooperation in the security sphere, and also discussed the situation in Syria," the statement said.

Ben-Shabbat came to Moscow as a member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's delegation, who met earlier in the day with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Israeli premier came just days before Israeli parliamentary elections.

It is Netanyahu’s first visit to Russia since U.S. President Donald Trump's abrupt decision last month to recognize Israel's territorial claim to the occupied Syrian Golan Heights -- a move Moscow has opposed.