The reported promise, said to have been made by Putin on Thursday, came on the day that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad begins a four-day official visit to Russia.

The paper said that Sharon had explained to the Russian leader that the arms, also called Igla missiles, risked falling into the hands of Syrian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon, who are violently opposed to Israel.

His office had said in a statement on Thursday that the Putin-Sharon phone call had centred on the situation in the Middle East, the unilateral Israeli plan of disengagement from the Gaza Strip, relations with Syria and Hezbollah "and their implications for terrorism" and the recent election of Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas.

"Hezbollah and Syria support terrorist action against Israeli targets, both from Lebanon and by Palestinian terrorist groups, and constitute a threat to the new Palestinian leadership," the statement said.

The Syrian leader arrives in Moscow on Monday amid controversy over reports that Russia was ready to sell Syria, its long-time ally in the Middle East, state-of-the-art missiles capable of hitting any target in the Jewish state.

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