The Kremlin has denounced reports of Russian jets firing on Israeli planes in Syria, the RBC news website reported Friday.
President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the claims were ?€?far from reality.?€?
Earlier on Friday, Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that Russian fighters in Syria had fired on Israeli warplanes on two occasions. The paper didn't specify when or where in Syria the incidents allegedly took place.
The alleged shooting incidents were discussed by Israeli and Russian leaders during the visit of Israeli President Reuven Rivlin to Moscow on March 15, the RBC newspaper reported, citing the original Israeli reports. At that time, Putin told Rivlin that he wasn't aware of the incident, the report said.
Yedioth Ahronoth also reported that the matter was discussed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visited Moscow on Thursday.
The Kremlin's spokesman called the meeting between Putin and Netanyahu ?€?effective?€? and confirmed that Syria was one of the topics discussed by the leaders.
The Israeli prime minister said before the meeting that he had come to Moscow in order to ?€?strengthen security coordination?€? between the two countries, ?€?in order to avoid accidents, misunderstandings and unnecessary confrontation,?€? the RBC news website reported, citing Israeli media reports.
A spokesman for Israel's military forces declined to comment when reached by Reuters.