Sharon's Moscow trip worried State Department

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The State Department, after a week of silence, has confirmed that it had been disturbed over Israel's wooing of Russia.

U.S. officials said they were kept in the dark over Israeli contacts with Russia on numerous issues, including discussions on the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, Russian technology transfer to Iran and Russian-Israeli economic and technology cooperation.

The officials said the concerns dissipated after Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon telephoned U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright last week and briefed her on the Israeli's three-day visit to Russia.

"We did get a briefing from his visit, and we feel we're now informed as to what he has been doing," State Department spokesman James Rubin said on Friday. "That wasn't always the case, but we're satisfied that we're consulting closer with Israel at this time."

"There's a process of consultation and there was a moment in time when we felt that we needed to understand better what Foreign Minister Sharon was pursuing in Russia," Rubin added. "And we now feel that we are satisfied because he discussed this subject at some length with the Secretary last Friday."

U.S. government sources expressed concern on the eve of Sharon's visit that he would sign accords on defense and space cooperation with Russia. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said this was not Israel's intention and Sharon repeated that to Ms. Albright.