Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was to meet President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday for talks focusing on Israeli concerns over Iran's Russian-backed nuclear programme and Russian weapons sales in the Middle East.
Olmert's trip marks 15 years of diplomatic ties with Russia, but behind the pageantry and ceremonious welcome late Tuesday serious tensions exist over Moscow's ties with Iran and Syria.
Olmert was expected to present his concerns during the Kremlin meeting with Putin and separate talks with Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Backed by its US ally, Israel has been pushing for the UN Security Council to adopt sanctions against Iran over its failure to heed demands to suspend uranium enrichment -- a process Israel says hides a secret nuclear weapons programme.
Russia, which is building Iran's first civilian nuclear power station at Bushehr, has resisted the push for sanctions.
Israel -- widely considered the Middle East's sole, if undeclared nuclear weapons power -- considers Tehran its chief foe because of calls from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to wipe the Jewish state off the map and its alleged backing for the Lebanese Hizbullah militia and Palestinian militant groups.
"We are determined to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear capability. Russia understands that this is a general existential threat and not only a threat to Israel," Olmert said earlier.
Israel also claims that sophisticated Russian weaponry sold to Syria has been passed on to Hizbullah guerrillas, who allegedly used the latest Russian-made anti-tank rockets to deadly effect during fighting with the Israeli army in July and August.
Moscow has also raised eyebrows in Israel and the United States by maintaining contacts with the radical Palestinian movement Hamas.
The Vremya Novostei daily reported Wednesday that Putin was furious over reports that Syria had supplied Hizbullah with weapons sold by Russia.
"However, this does not mean that Russia will completely stop selling weapons to Iran and Syria, as the Israelis want," the daily predicted.
"Co-operation with Tehran and Damascus, including in the oil-gas and atomic (energy) spheres, bring Moscow dividends -- and not only material. Russia plays a unique middleman role."
On Tuesday, Olmert said that "Putin told me when he was in Israel 18 months ago that he would never consciously and willingly give a hand to harm Israel's security. I do not feel the Russia position on the issue is aggressive towards us."
In a statement ahead of the Putin-Olmert meeting, the Kremlin reiterated its frequent call for restraint in the Middle East, saying that "use of force will not lead to the desired resolution in the region."
Russia, along with the European Union, the United Nations and the United States, is part of the so-called quartet that sponsors the floundering Middle East peace process but an Israeli government official has made it clear that efforts to revive it were off the agenda of this week's talks.
"At the moment, the peace process is not an issue on the agenda," the official said.
Olmert was also due to meet leaders of Russia's Jewish community during his stay in Moscow.