Roundup: EAEU, Israel mull building free trade zone, Putin says

Russia and Israel will work to build a free trade zone between the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Israel, said Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.

The statement came after Putin's meeting with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with a focus on furthering bilateral trade and economic relationship. It is Netanyahu's third visit since September of 2015.

"Recently at an EAEU summit in Astana (capital of Kazakhstan), we talked about it (the free trade zone with Israel), and substantive negotiations on this subject will be launched this year," Putin said as quoted by a Kremlin transcript.

The free trade zone would inject the impetus into bilateral business relations, he said.

Recalling the cooperation in high-tech sectors and at sub-regional level, Putin noted there are "good prospects" for agriculture cooperation as "Israeli producers can substantially boost their presence in the Russian market."

According to Netanyahu, his meeting with Putin was very productive and covered an extensive range of topics. Several bilateral deals were inked in the spheres of energy, agriculture, and customs, he added.

The two leaders agreed that there are possibilities for the two countries to cooperate in the energy sector.

"Israel has advanced technology (in terms of energy). It will be helpful if we cooperate and make use of the appropriate technologies that we have," Putin said.

Netanyahu added that he encouraged Russian energy companies to participate in all kinds of energy projects in Israel.

Meanwhile, Putin and Netanyahu stressed the importance to maintain close people-to-people communications and strengthen cultural cooperation such as education and tourism.

The two leaders also discussed the joint fight against international terrorism and the situation in the Middle East, as Putin vowed that Russia would contribute to settling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The high-level meeting coincides with the 25th anniversary of the restoration of Russia-Israel diplomatic relations, and both leaders expressed the hope that bilateral cooperation will be enriched with new initiatives on a solid foundation of trust and understanding.

According to another Kremlin statement released earlier, Tuesday's meeting largely focused on the progress of further implementing the agreements reached during Netanyahu's last visit on April 21.

"The main purpose of the visit of Prime Minister of Israel is to strengthen economic and trade partnership," Elena Suponina, expert at the Russian International Affairs Council, told Xinhua.

"Among other things, it is also a signal to Washington, as the relations of Israel with which have worsened during the presidency of Barack Obama, that Israel may choose other players instead of the U.S. as partners in a number of issues," Suponina added. Endit