A military agreement signed between Russia and Israel will increase cooperation on combating terrorism and the proliferation of nuclear weapons, but also could lead to the sale of Israeli weaponry to the Russian military, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said on Monday.

“I am sure that the military cooperation agreement that was signed today between our countries’ defense ministries will provide a fresh impetus to our bilateral relations,” he said during a meeting with his visiting Israeli counterpart Ehud Barak.

Barak said Israel greatly values its relations with Russia.

“Russia is a central country in the world, and also very important to our region,” he said.