Olmert: Peres worthy of presidency

MOSCOW - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stated Wednesday during his Moscow visit that "I know at least one person in the political system that is certainly worthy of a presidential nomination – Shimon Peres. But I'm not dealing with that issue, at least for now."

He spoke in response to a question regarding the possibility of nominating Eli Weisel for the presidency.

Olmert confirmed that Weisel's name was brought up, but said that it was too soon to deal with nominees for the position.

Prime Minister Olmert met Wednesday afternoon at the Kremlin with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who embarrassed the Israeli delegation when he asked to send his regards to President Moshe Katsav and said, “Your president certainly surprised us. I met with him and did not think of him as the kind of man who would be with 10 women.

Putin, who found it difficult to contain his laughter, added “We are all jealous of him.” To this Olmert responded by saying, “Don’t be jealous of him; this is no joke.”

The main issue on the agenda was the Iranian threat and the possibility Tehran will possess nuclear weapons in the near future.

"The Iranian issue is at the top of Israel's lists of problems, and we don’t have the privilege of letting such a country reach nuclear ability. Israel can never accept that. For us, when the leader of a country says that he wants to destroy us, it doesn’t sound like a vague statement; this is something which we should prepare for an prevent using all accepted means," Olmert said.

Olmert also raised the Palestinian issue during his meeting with Putin, and reiterated his desire to meet with President Abbas as soon as possible.

Referring to the Lebanese issues, Olmert said: "The two main ingredients in stabilizing the situation are the arms embargo on Lebanon and a direct activation of the Lebanese forces in the south, while stopping Hizbullah. There is of course a need to maintain the status and stability of the Lebanese government, in light of the attempts to harm it by Hizbullah from the inside and Syrian forces from the outside."

The Russian president elaborated on the countries' relations: "The relations between our countries are of new quality. They are based on a broader confidence."

He expressed his hope that the relations will grow even warmer.

"In the last years our relations improved especially because of my relations with Ariel Sharon that were built on mutual trust. And we are very sorry about his condition. I hope that we will have the same trust and the same working relations with this government. Russia is ready to do its outmost to improver the situation in the Middle East," Putin said.

Olmert agreed: "A year and a half ago I joined your lunch with Sharon and I remember important things you have said there about the relations between out two countries and your commitment that Russia will never harm Israel. I very much appreciate your position and I hope we can develop the relations."

During the meeting, partly smiling, Putin asked Olmert to give his regards to President Moshe Katsav.

"Your president definitely surprised us," he said.

Double trade, ease on tourist

"The relations with Israel were renewed 15 years ago today thanks to the joint effort we exerted over these years, "Putin said in a joint press conference. "We made a long way toward each other. The relations between Russia and Israel are developing in a dynamic way and are covering new fields such as economics, communications, security and technology."

"We remember Ariel Sharon's great contribution and satisfactorily note that the new Israeli leadership is maintaining a policy of expanding the relations with Russia. Olmert spoke about the need to double the trade between the countries, and I completely agree. We will do everything to make the dream come true. We have an opportunity to realize plans in the technological area, including in outer space," the Russian president added. 

Visiting Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Photo: AP)

Putin also promised "to do everything also in order to ease restrictions on receiving a tourist visa between the two countries. A significant number of Israeli citizens are of Russian origin. We expect the Russian science and culture center which will open in Tel Aviv soon to launch successful activities.

"There is no doubt that the mutual relations meet Israel and Russia's long-term interest. Strengthening these relations will bring about great contribution and regional and international security."

Putin went to say that "we both aspire to deal with the threats of the 21st century together. This is the factor uniting both countries – the war on terror, the war on international hostility and the desire to solve the conflicts."

According to the Russian president, "the only way to break through the circle of violence is to stop the mutual accusations, release the hostages and resume the peace negotiations. Russia as a member of the Quartet wishes to quickly stabilize the situation and work to resume the negotiations."

Is Iran really dangerous?

However, the warm words at the Kremlin failed to conceal the disagreements between the parties on the main issue: Iran's developing nuclear weapons.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey said Wednesday that the world should treat Iran "proportionally."

"It is crucial to work against Iran, but this must be focused directly on what is taking place in actual fact. What is taking place in actual fact is what the IAEA (Internationa Atomic Energy Agency) is telling us, and it is not reporting a threat to peace and security at this time on the part of Iran," Lavrov said.