Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu on Thursday evening as part of his one-day trip to Sochi, Russia.
After greeting each other, Netanyahu told Shoygu that he was happy to meet him once again and that "every meeting between us is important." Netanyahu added that he thinks that this is the first meeting between them since he himself became defense minister and they are now meeting as fellow defense ministers.
Following the meeting with Shoygu at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Netanyahu will leave for the Bocharov Ruchey residence to meet with President Vladimir Putin.
Prime Minister Netanyahu told reporters before leaving for Russia Thursday: "This is a very important journey at the present time. We are working on several arenas to ensure Israel's security against Iran's attempts to attack us in the Syrian arena. This is a key arena and it is important for us to preserve the IDF's freedom of action against Iranian, Hezbollah and other targets. The common goal we agree on, which is far from being achieved, is the removal of all Iranian forces from Syria."
"This visit is a periodic visit," he continued. “I do not stop dealing with Israel's security because of the elections and Iran does not stop its attempts to harm us. I am attentive to Israel's security needs during an election period as well.”