Putin: We see Israel striving for peace

"Russia knows that Israel is striving for peace," Russian President Vladimir Putin said, when receiving in the Kremlin on Monday Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon. The situation in the Middle East will be certainly discussed in the course of the meeting, Vladimir Putin noted.

The Russian President stated that "the Israeli people have suffered greatly in the course of the recent decades." "You have mentioned about Jewish communities in Russia and I told you about Russian immigrants in Israel. We both know about the situation in these spheres not from mere reports," Vladimir Putin said.

According to him, in 2006 the Historical Museum in Moscow will open an exposition dedicated to the 60th anniversary of victory over fascism and to the tragedy of holocaust. "When visiting Israel I met with veterans of Great Patriotic War and think they would be pleased to learn about the exposition," the Russian President said.

Putin said, that the initiative of Russian scientists to reconstruct in Ethnic Museum in St Petersburg exposition on life about Jewish people received wide support. "Such museum had already existed within framework of the Ethnic museum but was later closed and now scientists believe it should be opened again," the Russian President noted.

Vladimir Putin asked the Israeli Premier to grant political support for the interaction between the specialists of the two countries on solution of the mentioned-above issues.

"Israel is a small country but has a lot of talents," Sharon said. According to him, one million of Russian repatriates contributed greatly to enrichment of Israel with talented people.