If true, here’s a positive development: Putin promises Israel not to sell missiles to Syria.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon by phone that he won’t sign a contract to sell SA-18 surface-to-air missiles to Syria, the daily Haaretz reports.

The reported promise, said to have been made by Putin on Thursday, came on the day that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad begins a four-day official visit to Russia.

The paper said that Sharon had explained to the Russian leader that the arms, also called Igla missiles, risked falling into the hands of Syrian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon, who are violently opposed to Israel.