Minister Ze'ev Elkin, who accompanied Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday's visit to Russia, said on Tuesday that "Israel achieves a lot of things" through the open kind of dialogue that Netanyahu had with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Interviewed by public radio, Elkin said, "These talks have tremendous significance. Nobody else will take care of Israel's security. We have to take care of ourselves. At the same time, there are many players in the region and this discourse with the Russians is critical for acting in our interest."