Russian minister cancels visit to Tel Aviv following Israeli spying allegations

Reports in the Israeli media claim that Russian Minister Sergei Shoigu has cancelled a visit to Tel Aviv following Russia’s expulsion of an Israeli military attaché on espionage charges. The alleged Israeli spy was seeking information about Russian military “secrets”; more specifically, technical-military cooperation between Russia and Arab states.

Shoigu was scheduled to visit Tel Aviv next week to sign a security cooperation agreement with his Israeli counterpart, Matan Vilnai. Israel has said that the visit has been cancelled due to schedule changes and stressed that it would go ahead “at a later date”.