MOSCOW, September 10 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Foreign Ministry has no official information on an alleged unannounced visit to Moscow by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a ministry spokesman said on Thursday.
Israeli newspapers including Haaretz have cited unnamed officials as saying Netanyahu was in Moscow on Monday to discuss Russian-Iranian arms deals.
"We have seen these reports in various media, and you know that not all the details add up, but there is nothing more I can tell you," Andrei Nesterenko said, adding he had no information at his disposal.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin earlier said the premier was busy that day with his pre-planned schedule, "which did not include a meeting with Netanyahu." However, no explicit denial of the visit was given.
A Palestinian newspaper reported that Netanyahu had left on a visit to an Arab state with no diplomatic ties with Israel.
Netanyahu's military aide, Maj. Gen. Meir Kalifi, was the only Israeli official to dismiss the media reports, saying in a press release on Monday night that the prime minister had spent the day at a "security facility in Israel."
The head of the Israeli premier's office, Eyal Gabbai, visited Moscow on Tuesday as part of a Jewish Agency tour.
President Shimon Peres visited the Black Sea resort of Sochi in August to discuss Russia's arms deals with Iran.
Peres said Medvedev "gave a promise he will reconsider the sales of S-300s [advanced air defense systems to Iran] because it affects the delicate balance which exists in the Middle East."
