Sharon in Moscow discusses settlers immigration, Romanian-Israeli military talks

The Israeli Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon has reiterated his government's continued measures to strengthen the process of Jewish immigration from Russia and the Commonwealth states to settle in Israel.

In statements he made on Tuesday upon his arrival in Moscow, Sharon added that the message he will convey to members of the Russian-Jewish organizations is to call upon them to exert their utmost efforts in order to bring new settlers from Russia and other Commonwealth states so their numbers will reach two million new settlers. Sharon indicated that bringing the new settlers to Israel is one of the main tasks of his government.

Sharon's visit also addressed Palestinian-Israeli agreements as well as means of resuming negotiations on the Lebanese and Syrian peace tracks. He was quoted by the Israeli Foreign Ministry's spokesman as saying, "Without security for the Jews in their one and only small homeland, peace will not be established in the Middle East. Peace and peace agreements must be based on reciprocity and on the fulfillment of all the commitments by the Palestinians or any other party that signs an agreement."

Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai discussed during a meeting in Tel Aviv on Tuesday with Romanian Defense Minister Victor Babiuc, who has already started a visit to Israel, means of strengthening military cooperation between Romania and Israel.

Israeli radio said that Mordechai talked during his meeting with the Romanian minister on the condition the Middle East peace process had reached.

Earlier in the day, the Romanian defense minister arrived in Israel for a three-day official visit. This visit by the Romanian minister is the second of its kind in order to consolidate military cooperation between the two sides.