On Barak's visit to Moscow

The BBC quoted Russian political analyst Andrea Portonov as saying on Tuesday in Moscow that Israel had tried through the visit of Prime Minister Ehud Barak to Moscow to convince Russian President Boris Yeltsin that the Russian arm-sales deals to Syria at a cost of $2 billion US is not in the interest of Moscow in the long run.

The BCC indicated that Barak, during the visit, repeated Israel's concern over arms sales from Russia to Iran, adding that there are no indications so far of Moscow's intention to make a fundamental change in its policies and relations with the Arab states and Iran.

The correspondent added that Barak wished for Russia to play a more balanced role in the Middle East, saying that observers believed the dismissal of former Russian Premier Yevgeny Primakov, who Israel was considered to be aligned with the Arabs, would help the efforts made by Barak.