Israeli Ambassador to Russia, Anna Azari, handed her credentials over at the end of the week to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The ceremony, by which he accepted the credentials of new ambassadors, took place at the Kremlin in conjunction with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Levrov.
“In the future, we intend to build friendly relations with Israel, keeping in mind that a significant number of Israel's citizens are immigrants from the former Soviet Union,” said Putin during the ceremony. “We will also strive to cooperate in bringing peace and stability to the Near East.”
Ambassador Azari formerly served as Israeli ambassador to Ukraine and was a delegate to Russian states. In her recent role in the Israeli Foreign Ministry, she headed the Eurasia Department and was responsible for overseeing the relationship with Russia and the states that were once part of the former Soviet Union.
Azari was born in the former Soviet Union (Lithuania) and worked with the Foreign Ministry until the beginning of the 1980s when she was considered to be an expert in the Russian regions.
She faces new and serious challenges in her role considering the importance and complexity of the relationship between Israel and Moscow.