Russian President Vladimir Putin who is on a two day trip to the Middle East region, on Monday arrived in Israel with Iran’s nuclear programme being top on the agenda.

Putin reached Israel at midday and he was taken to the coastal city of Netanya for the inauguration of a memorial built to honor Red Army veterans of World War II. After that, Putin is to head to Jerusalem for talks with Israeli Pm Benjamin Netanyahu.

Reports say the talks are to centre on Israel’s standoff with Iran over the latter’s nuke program which according to Israel are designed to produce nuke weapons.

Iran has been denying this and instead claims that its Uranium enrichment program is soley based on civilian purposes.
Israel would try to convince Russia to coerce Iran to curb its nuke enrichment though Russia has in past, along with China, has diluted international sanctions against Iran.

However, Russia has managed to balance its approach towards Iran by joining world powers in pressurizing Iran to control its nuke ambitions.

Russia’s stance on sanctions in the future could help to decide whether Israel attacks Iranian nuclear facilities, since Israel has warned that if Tehran doesn’t back down, a military strike could follow.