MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian Defense Ministry says it will host an Israeli military delegation for talks focusing on the situation in Syria.
The ministry said that Tuesday's meeting follows a phone call last weekend between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
It comes after September's downing of a Russian reconnaissance plane that was hit by Syrian forces responding to an Israeli air raid. All 15 people on board the Russian plane were killed, and the incident badly strained previously warm Russian-Israeli ties.
Israel said it gave Russia advance warning about its strike on a Syrian facility that provided weapons for Iran's proxy Hezbollah, but Russia has claimed the warning came less than a minute before the strike, leaving its aircraft in the line of fire.
