RUSSIA: ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU VISIT
(22 Mar 1999) Russian/Eng/Nat
Russian Prime Minister, Yevgeny Primakov assured his visiting Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Monday that his country has not allowed any leaks of missile or nuclear secrets to Iran.
The prime ministers of both countries also agreed to boost economic and political ties, and work together to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East.
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu held separate meetings in Moscow on Monday with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and Premier Yevgeny Primakov, to discuss the alleged supply of Russian nuclear and ballistic missile technology to Iran.
The meetings follow Iran's unveiling last November of the Shahab-3 missile, claiming it had a range of 1,300 kilometres (800 miles).
That would allow the missile to reach Israel.
The United States and Israel have accused several Russian organisations of sending sensitive information to Iran, and have urged the Russian government to tighten export controls.
Moscow has insisted that it has not allowed any breaches in its export controls.
Instead, Russia claims it has thwarted several Iranian attempts to obtain nuclear know-how.
Following the meeting, Netanyahu and his foreign minister visited a Jewish school, where he spoke to pupils and sat in on a Hebrew lesson.
He urged the pupils to study computers, Hebrew and religion and said he hoped to see them in Israel soon.
Keeping to his hectic schedule, Netanyahu then met with his Russian counterpart Prime Minister Primakov at the House of Government.
There, they discussed ways to improve trade between the two nations, including setting up a system of government export guarantees.
Primakov and Netanyahu hailed the progress in bilateral relations and pledged to work further to boost trade and other ties.
At the completion of their talks, Netanyahu then headed for Vnukovo II airport where he said they had found a common ground in talks about the Middle East peace process.
Netanyahu froze the implementation of a U-S-brokered peace accord with the Palestinians in December, citing Palestinian violations.
The accord provided for Israeli troops to withdraw from parts of the West Bank and Palestinian prisoners to be released.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"This would be a violation of the Oslo accords that stipulate that a final settlement could only come through the negotiations. I expect that Arafat would understand that we will not allow this unilateral violation and we will respond. It would be better for him, for the Palestinians and for peace to stick to the agreements and to negotiate and agree upon agreement. This is what we want"
SUPER CAPTION: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
At the airport, Ivanov aired his concerns on the Kosovo crisis.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"It would be a great mistake to expect that positive results could be achieved by means of using force. The whole history of the Balkans shows that military intervention will lead to opposite results...a rise in tensions and a worsening situation in the region."
SUPER CAPTION: Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov
Netanyahu and his entourage then boarded a waiting Israeli air force plane, bringing an end to his two day tour.
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