RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin told visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday not to entertain fears of Iranian and Syrian aggression against his country.

Mr Netanyahu told his host that Iran and Syria had been supplying Hezbollah with advanced weapons and were “trying to set up a second terrorist front on the Golan Heights,” which Israel occupied in 1981 and continues to colonise in defiance of international law.

Mr Putin said that, while understanding his guest’s concerns, fears of Syrian aggression against Israel were unfounded.

“We know that the Syrian army and Syria as a whole are in such a state that they have no time for a second front. They need to save their own state,” he declared.

Mr Netanyahu countered that Israel’s policy was to prevent these weapons transfers and thus he felt it important to inform Russia of this “to ensure that there is no misunderstanding between our forces.”