Russia considers Israel a Russian-speaking nation, President Vladimir Putin said, Jewish News reports.
Putin made the statement, his strongest public expression of kinship with the Jewish state to date, during a speech Tuesday in Moscow at an event organised by the United Israel Appeal, a Zionist organisation responsible for collecting funds.
“Citizens of Russia and Israel are connected by ties of family, kinship and friendship. This is a real network, a common family, I say without exaggeration. Israel has almost 2 million Russian-speaking citizens. We consider Israel a Russian-speaking state,” he said.
Putin also said he would travel to Israel in January at the invitation of President Reuven Rivlin to attend events dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp and International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
“Of course, I will definitely take advantage of this invitation,” Putin said.