Israel always ready for dialogue with Russia: PM

JERUSALEM, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said Tuesday that his country is always ready for dialogue with Russia.

"If there are legal issues that arise in relation to the important activity of the Jewish Agency in Russia, Israel is, as always, ready and prepared to engage in dialogue while maintaining the important relations between the countries," Lapid said in a statement.

The ties between the two countries are "based on a long history, regular communication and mutual interests," Lapid said.

The comments came as a response to remarks by Kremlin earlier on Tuesday that their move to shut down the Jewish Agency was a purely legal matter.

"There is no need to politicize this situation and project it onto the entire range of Russian-Israeli relations," Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said in a statement.

Peskov said that "it's necessary to take a careful approach here, but also to realize that all organizations must comply with Russian law."

Earlier in July, Russia's Justice Ministry requested to liquidate the agency's branch in Moscow, a quasi-governmental body that helps Jews emigrate to Israel.

The case has sparked worries in Israel over its ties with Russia, home to one of the largest Jewish communities outside the Middle East.