Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu (right) in Israel. Photo: Facebook.

On Wednesday it was reported that Russia’s planned sale of the S-300 missile system to Syria had been cancelled.  Now, Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak has shed light into Israel’s role in prodding Russian President Vladimir Putin into stopping the sale, during his visit to Israel earlier this week.

“Putin listened perfectly to what we said,” Barak told Army Radio in Israel, adding that discussions between Israeli and Russian officials during Putin’s state visit were instrumental in Russia’s decision to keep one of the world’s most advanced anti-aircraft missile systems out of the hands of Bashar Assad in Syria.

In the interview Barak gave on Thursday, he also discussed the killing of a Hamas operative in Damascus, which occurred on Wednesday.

Barak said he would not mourn the loss of Kamal Ranaja, known as Nizzar Abu-Mujhad, because he was not “one of the righteous of his generation.”  Barak added that its “not necessarily true” that the Israel intelligence agency Mossad was behind Wednesday’s killing.

A Hamas official in Lebanon has accused the Israeli agency of responsibility.