[1] In his September 10, 2004 article Middle East Horizons of Russian Foreign Politics: Russia returns to one of the world's key regions, Mikhail Margelov, the Head of the Foreign Relations Council of the Russian Federation, wrote: President Putin called for the renewal of contacts with the countries with which Russia maintained long friendly relations and invested a lot of material and intellectual resources.

In general, the positions of Russia and the majority of Arab countries on key issues of development of the political situation in the region coincide.

In 2006, Israeli forces found evidence of the Russian-made Kornet-E and Metis-M anti-tank systems in Hizbullah's possession in southern Lebanon.

However, Russia's recent eastward leanings might indicate that Moscow is prepared to enter a new stage in its military cooperation with Syria, even if this is to the detriment of its relationship with Israel.

[15] In an interview in Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta published on 13 February 2006, Mashal said that Hamas would temporarily stop armed struggle against Israel if it recognized the "1967 borders" and withdrew itself from all "Palestinian territories" (including the West Bank and East Jerusalem).

[18][19] Russia provides technical assistance to Iran's nuclear program, supplies it with weapons, and gives it diplomatic support at the United Nations.

But recently, Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said his government was prepared to sell Syria arms with a "defensive character."

Israel claims Russian missiles sold to Syria made their way into the Hezbollah's hands in the 2006 war, though it has not accused Russia of directly arming the guerrilla group.

It included al-Qaeda, Taliban, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Egypt's banned Muslim Brotherhood, as well as groups linked to separatist militants in Chechnya and Islamic radicals in Central Asia but omitted both Hamas and Hezbollah.

"[30] Russian President Vladimir Putin met with leaders of both Israel and the Palestinian National Authority during a visit to the region in June 2012.

[31] During the visit, one prominent Israeli host was the country's foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, known for his popularity amongst the large community of Russian-Israelis[32][33] Arab commentators were also quick to point out how this visit, which carried with it indications of closer Russian-Israeli cooperation in energy and military technology, could usher in a break in a perceived, long-standing Arab-Russian alliance.