Russian President Vladimir Putin telephoned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last night to congratulate him on his 70th birthday. Netanyahu thanked Putin, and seized the opportunity to discuss the latest developments in the region, and the state of affairs in Israel’s northern neighbor Syria in particular.
Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin met this afternoon with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Russian resort city of Sochi. A source who was present at the meeting told TV7 that discussions were held in a positive atmosphere, and that the conversation focused on normalizing the situation in northeast Syria. It is important to note that this meeting came just several hours before the U.S.-brokered pause of hostilities was set to expire, at 9 PM Jerusalem time, which is Greenwich Mean Time +2.