Russia denies it rejected Israeli offer to send delegation after plane was downed

The Kremlin is denying a recent Israeli report that Russian officials rebuffed Jerusalem officials who offered to dispatch a high-level government representative to Moscow following the downing of a Russian spy plane by Syrian air defenses during an Israeli airstrike last week.

“This is not true. The newspaper provides incorrect information,” press secretary Dmitry Peskov tells journalists, according to Russia’s state-run news outlet Sputnik. “From the very beginning, there was a proposal by the Israeli prime minister to send a military delegation headed by the commander of the air force, which was done.”

Israel sought to send a delegation led by National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, along with air force officials, the Haaretz newspaper reported late yesterday.