Ground Report

MOSCOW: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Wednesday called Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on his party’s crushing victory in weekend elections, the Kremlin said. "The Israeli prime minister warmly congratulated Putin with success in the parliamentary elections, and gave a high evaluation of the winning United Russia party’s results," the Kremlin press service said in a statement. he two leaders also discussed the Middle East peace process, the Kremlin said. On Tuesday, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi downplayed his call to Putin, which the Kremlin said was congratulatory and Prodi’s office called "an exchange of views on the results of the recent eletions in Russia."