World News Putin makes historic visit to Israel

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JERUSALEM (AP) - Greeted by beaming Israeli officials April 27, Vladimir Putin became the first Kremlin leader to visit the Jewish state, capping a historic rapprochement between two nations that once faced each other as bitter enemies across the Cold War divide.

Putin, on his first Middle East trip, brought with him a fresh proposal for a conference to be held in Moscow in the autumn.

The Soviet Union supported Israel during the Jewish state's early years, but relations soon collapsed as Israel increasingly allied itself with the United States.

Moscow cut ties with Israel in 1967 in the context of a Mideast war and strongly backed the Arab states, but as the Soviet Union was collapsing in the early 1990s, the two nations restored ties.

Relations are continuing to improve under Putin, who has drawn parallels between Israel's conflict with Palestinian militants and Russia's campaign against Chechen rebels.

But there are strains as well, including Russia's determination to push ahead with a missile sale to Syria, one of Israel's bitterest enemies.

プーチン大統領、イスラエル訪問

ロシアのプーチン大統領は4月27日、ロシアの最高指導者として初めてイスラエルを訪問した。

Shukan ST: May 6, 2005

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