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MOSCOW – The Russian and Israeli defense ministers, Anatoly Serdyukov and Ehud Barak, signed on Monday an agreement on military cooperation between the countries during talks in Moscow, the Russian defense minister's spokeswoman was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying.

A military cooperation agreement signed between Russia and Israel will advance bilateral relations, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said on Monday.

Barak arrived in the Russian capital on a two-day visit later on Monday.

"I am sure that the military cooperation agreement that was signed today between our countries' defense ministries will provide a fresh impetus to our bilateral relations," Serdyukov said during a meeting with his visiting Israeli counterpart Ehud Barak.

Barak said Israel greatly values its relations with Russia.

"Russia is a central country in the world, and also very important to our region," he said.

"This agreement will regulate cooperation between the two countries in the military sphere in the next five years," Irina Kovalchuk said.

The agreement stipulates that Russia and Israel will exchange experiences and information "in the spheres of mutual interest, including international security," she said.

During the talks in Moscow, Serdyukov and Barak discussed security issues in the Middle East and cooperation between Russia and Israel in fighting terrorism.

The talks took place less then two weeks after the Israeli Haaretz daily reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had asked his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to stop the sale of advanced P-800 Yakhont supersonic cruise missiles to Syria.

Military-technical cooperation between Syria and Russia has always been an issue of criticism from Israeli authorities, who express a strong concern over the increase of Syrian defensive potential, but also see a threat of transferring weapons to Lebanese or Palestinian radicals.

Following the report, Kremlin aide Sergei Prikhodko said Russia stands by its international obligations and has no plans to stop the arms deal with Syria. Russia's military cooperation policy is shaped by the president and is not directed against third countries, he said.