Russia sells arms to terrorist nations

Israeli PM gets no promises on Russian arms sales

MOSCOW (AP) — Israel's prime minister said Tuesday he received assurances that Russia would not allow Israel's security to be threatened, but offered no indication he won the concrete promises he sought on Russian arms sales or sanctions on Iran.

Israel is concerned that Russia could sell its enemies, Iran and Syria, advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems. That would make any strike at Iran's first nuclear power plant — which Russia is helping to build — more difficult.

Iran's president has vowed that Israel should be "wiped off the map" — and Israel fears that the nuclear program Iran says is to produce power is actually meant to manufacture weapons.
"We dealt with weapons sales, or the possibility of weapons sales," Ehud Olmert told reporters after a Kremlin meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. "The highest levels of Russian government understand well the Israeli position and are aware of the ramifications that such sales would have on stability in the region."

Olmert said Israel and Russia agreed to set up a forum to "upgrade their strategic dialogue" and discuss potential Russian arms sales. But he gave no indication that Medvedev had offered anything more concrete.

Russia has been against imposing more U.N. sanctions on Iran, and Olmert did not say that had changed. Medvedev said "he opposes a nuclear Iran" and expressed "sharp criticism" of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's fiery rhetoric toward Israel, Olmert said.
"He said Russian policy will continue to be one that will never, in any circumstances, hurt Israel's security," Olmert said.

Olmert came to Russia with little time remaining in office and little clout. Plagued by corruption charges, he has announced he will step down as soon as his successor, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, forms a new government or elections are held.

Underscoring Olmert's lame-duck status, he and Medvedev did not hold a joint news conference and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin did not bother to meet with him.

Officially, Olmert's office was told that Putin would be in his hometown of St. Petersburg celebrating his birthday.

The Kremlin put out a cursory statement after the talks, saying Medvedev had praised the "economic cooperation between the two countries."

In recent months Israel has done its best to make Russia happy. It has distanced itself from Georgia, announcing even before Georgia's August war with Russia that it was cutting weapons sales to Tbilisi.

Israel later further restricted defense contacts and even instructed defense consultants not to visit the Caucasus nation.

Olmert said he discussed Georgia with Medvedev, but offered few details, saying only that Medvedev said he "appreciates Israel's careful and responsible stance during the Caucasus crisis."

Before Olmert's trip, the Israeli government announced it was returning a czarist-era Jerusalem building — the Sergei Courtyard_ to Russian ownership.

The two nations also recently mutually dropped visa requirements for travelers.