Nathan Sharansky, Deputy Prime Minister of Israel and former Soviet dissident, arrived in Moscow yesterday for a two-day working visit. While official sources did not specify the main purpose of the visit, informed sources mentioned that one of its objectives is to assess the results of the talks of Syrian Vice President Abdel-Halim Khaddam and the topics related to military-technical cooperation between Russia and Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin has referred to this cooperation as an important part of the two countries’ relations.
Although official sources denied that Khaddam’s discussions in the Kremlin touched on any military deals, the pre-visit rumors about an agreement to build two nuclear reactors in Syria with Russian assistance raise many questions about the reality of the matter and the source of the news. This is especially noteworthy since the official spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Energy stated that “there is no agreement to sign any agreements between the two countries in this regard.” The newspaper “Izvestiya,” known for its close ties to Jewish circles, quoting sources in Jerusalem, reported that such news caused some confusion in Israel, which has not yet issued any official response to this matter.
Observers do not overlook the connection of such news with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s previous demand to subject Syria to an inspection regime to search for components of weapons of mass destruction that he claimed Iraq smuggled into Syria without providing any evidence to support his claim. Some analysts suggest that Sharansky will focus during his visits to both Moscow and St. Petersburg on mobilizing the financial and human resources necessary to support him and his supporters in the upcoming parliamentary elections in Israel. This follows the pattern set by Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Foreign Minister, during his recent visit to Moscow.
