Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Feb. 27, Netanyahu's office said on Thursday, with the focus likely to be on Middle East issues led by Syria.
The two leaders had been scheduled to meet this week, but that was postponed, apparently because of the intense election campaign. At the time, the Kremlin said Netanyahu and Putin were to discuss the situation in the Middle East, including Syria.
Thursday's statement offered no further details.
Israel's air force has repeatedly attacked what it describes as Iranian targets in Syria, saying it would not let Tehran use the Syrian civil war as cover for establishing a permanent presence on its northern border.
The air strikes have long caused friction between Israel and Russia, which apart from Iran is Syrian President Bashar Assad's other major foreign backer. In September 2018, Syrian forces accidentally shot down a Russian cargo plane carrying 15 troops after mistaking it for an Israeli aircraft.
A hotline set up in 2015 is aimed at ensuring Russian forces in Syria are not surprised by Israeli attacks. That line, often referred to as a "deconfliction mechanism," will probably also come up at the summit on Wednesday as both sides seek to avoid another incident like the one in September.
Israeli officials have spoken in the past of an agreement with Moscow under which they have made clear their strikes on Syria would not threaten Assad, while Russia has promised to help limit Iranian influence near the Israeli frontier.
