Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Vladimir Putin: Mr Minister, dear colleagues! I'm very pleased to meet with you! I recently had an opportunity to talk with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the telephone. Please, convey my best wishes to him. I think Russian-Israeli relations are making good progress. I'd even say they're making very good progress.

We have practically reached pre-crisis levels in our trade turnover. Relations with your department are also developing positively - you have just met with your Russian counterpart. Our military-technical cooperation is not in a bad shape, either. Suffice it to say that we have good projects on military transport aviation in third countries. We are carrying out a promising project for India. We have bought small aircraft - drones - in Israel. We have launched several satellites in Israel's interests. We are reviewing the possibility of equipping Israeli aircraft with Russian technical devices - space and laser technology. Now we are discussing the possibility of deploying a long-distance laser station in Israel for the GLONASS system with Israeli experts.

In general, we are cooperating in many diverse areas. One of them is, of course, the struggle against extremism and terrorism. As with the struggle against Nazism in the past, we work very closely here, we are natural allies. I'm glad to see you, welcome to Russia!

Ehud Barak (as translated): I'm happy to be here in Sochi and to meet with you again. We consider Russia to be a great force in the world, including in the Middle East. We want to develop relations between our military agencies. We have signed a historic agreement with Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov. Who would have thought 20 years ago that Israel and Russia would sign a military agreement? We have discussed prospects for cooperation in special anti-terrorist equipment and unmanned aircraft.

We will be happy to share our experience in making an army smart and effective. And, of course, we would be happy to cooperate in all spheres, be it science, commerce, resources or anything else.

We are inviting people from Russia to visit Israel. They will feel at home there - we have many Russian language speakers in all parts of the country.

Jews who came to Israel from Russia and other former Soviet republics have changed our country and influenced us in many ways, be it science, the armed forces, culture or anything else. Israelis are deeply rooted in Russian culture and history. We live in a difficult region. It cannot be compared with North America or Europe.

Winston Churchill once said: the pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. We see many difficulties and opportunities but prefer to be optimistic and focus on opportunities.

Vladimir Putin: People here sometimes say that a pessimist is a well-informed optimist.

Ehud Barak: We continue being optimists although Israel faces many threats - Hamas in the south, Hezbollah to the north, as well as Iran.

We have the prospect of progress in the Palestinian arena and when the right moment comes, Syria and Lebanon will reach a peace settlement in the region.

The region expects a signal from the world - from America, Russia and Europe. We are seeking the support of the world public. We are displaying extreme caution, but we are expecting a signal.