Seeking to bolster Russia's role in the Middle East with both peace talks and weaponry, President Vladimir Putin Wednesday called for a peace conference in Moscow next fall.

Making the first visit by a Kremlin leader to Egypt in 40 years - and leaving Cairo Wednesday night to start the first ever such visit to Israel - Mr. Putin said he first needed to consult with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to bring "all these countries concerned" to the table.

Despite a host of differences, in recent years Russian and Israeli officials believe they have some common ground in their respective conflicts in Chechnya and the Palestinian territories against Muslim militants. But serving as midwife to a Mideast peace settlement has long been an American preoccupation, even though Russia is a member of the "quartet" of powers that back the process.

Now stepping headlong into this US sphere - where many Arabs feel that the American role as "honest broker" has been compromised by its bedrock support of Israel - the Russian leader is attempting to balance an array of Russian strategic and economic interests that span the Arab-Israeli divide.

That equation is further complicated by Russia's decision to sell advanced antiaircraft missiles to Syria. Israel says the sale - to a country the US considers a state sponsor of terrorism - could threaten its security.

"Putin wants to remind the world that Russia is still a present and active player in the peace process," says Vladimir Orlov, a Russian analyst at the Geneva Center for Security Policy. "Trade is high on the agenda, with or without the Syria missile deal, [which Putin] made clear is not a bargaining chip.

"This is part of the economization of Russian foreign policy," says Mr. Orlov. "Russia will be present with conventional arms ... [and] has its own foreign policy interests and will act on them, even if they are not as Washington or Tel Aviv would want."

Beyond the sale of the Russian Strelets antiaircraft system to Damascus, ties with Israel are strained over Moscow's help with Iran's nuclear-power program, and pressure to extradite from Israel several dual-citizen billionaires who are among Russia's most-wanted fugitives.

But there have also been moments of apparent warmth in intelligence-sharing and other cooperation. Israel sent a team of terror experts to Russia early in the Beslan school hostage crisis last September. Some child victims and others wounded in a subway blast days earlier were invited to Israel for medical assistance.

Still, the missile deal has raised concern in Israel, especially after Putin last week confirmed in an interview with Israeli TV that the missile sale would go forward. He said Russia had refused a Syrian request for more advanced missiles "because we do not want to violate any balance, however fragile it may be, that exists in the region."

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