Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a session at the Week of Russian Business, organized by the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), in Moscow, Russia February 9, 2018. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin/File Photo

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the situation in Syria in a telephone call on Saturday after heavy Israeli air strikes in the country, Interfax news agency cited the Kremlin as saying.

“They discussed the situation around the actions of the Israeli air force, which carried our missile strikes on targets in Syria,” Interfax quoted the Kremlin as saying.

Putin told Netanyahu there was a need to avoid any steps that would lead to a new confrontation in the region, Interfax reported.

Anti-aircraft fire downed an Israeli warplane returning from a bombing raid on Iran-backed positions in Syria earlier on Saturday in the most serious confrontations yet between Israel and Iranian-backed forces based across the border.

(The story is refiled to remove repeated word “Syria” in headline)