Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Monday, "For us, the security of Israel is paramount. Having said that, I am not saying that Israel's unlawful attacks on targets in Syria, including targets that are in one way or another linked to Iran, are legitimate and can be justified."
Ryabkov stressed, "No, we condemn them, they are illegitimate. But this does not mean, again, that we should not care about the security of Israel." His comments came ahead of a visit by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to Moscow in 10 days to talk to President Vladimir Putin about Iran's attempts at entrenchment in Syria.