Cohen, who was attending the 100th General Conference of the Interparliamentary Union in Moscow, met the Russian leadership, leaders of the Jewish community and the chief rabbi of Moscow, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt.

Goldschmidt told Cohen many Russian Jews want to come to Israel and yearn for there to be peace here. However, in view of the unstable situation regarding the peace process, they are considering immigrating to the United States or Europe, he said.

At the conference, Cohen called on Syrian President Hafez Assad and his representatives to the conference to visit Israel and see how interested the Israeli public is in peace with Syria.

Cohen was also scheduled to visit the Israeli Embassy in Moscow and the Jewish Agency headquarters there and meet potential new immigrants and Jewish Agency officials.