Advanced quartet talks between Israel, the US, Greece and Cyprus could be held in the coming months to establish a “regional axis” against Russian-Turkish cooperation, mainly in Syria, Israeli sources.
The revelation came hours after the Israeli Prime Minister’s office revealed successful discussions had taken place between Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The sources expected the prime ministers of Israel, Greece and Cyprus, in addition to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to attend the quartet meeting.
According to Israel's public broadcaster Kan, the gathering aims to provide US support for strengthening relations between three other countries.
The planned quartet axis would be named “The Democratic Axis in the Middle East,” reports said.
Sources confirmed that Washington is planning to hold a military maneuver along with the four states in the Mediterranean Sea.
Kan also quoted experts in international affairs as saying that “Russia and Putin have expressed concern about the increasing US presence in Cyprus.”
It said the Russian foreign ministry had recently said that the US military presence in the island “would not remain unanswered.”
On Saturday, Putin and Netanyahu spoke over the phone and discussed the Israeli operations near the Lebanese border, the Kremlin said in a statement.
"The president of Russia stressed the importance of ensuring stability in the region," it said.
Separately, reports of an attack on Damascus international airport on Sunday night have not been verified yet.
Earlier, the regime mouthpiece SANA said that air defenses had opened fire near Damascus airport, before withdrawing the report after what appeared to be a false alarm.
SANA quoted sources at the airport as saying that "there was no aggression" and that "traffic was normal".
A well-informed source told AFP that "there was evidently a false alarm.”
