Jailed Israeli's mother 'optimistic' after meeting Putin

The mother of an Israeli tourist jailed in Russia said that she was "optimistic" after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Jerusalem.

Earlier on Thursday Yafaa Issachar attended a meeting with Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Russia's president told her that "everything will be alright."

Yaffa Issachar's daughter Naama was jailed after more than nine grams of hashish were found in her luggage, Russian authorities said.

She was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison, and a higher court in Moscow upheld the verdict and sentence last month.

Netanyahu has asked Putin to pardon the 26-year-old, who was arrested in April at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, where she was transferring flights while travelling from India to Israel.

Putin is in Israel on a brief visit where he will attend a dedication ceremony of a monument honouring the nearly 900-day Nazi siege of Leningrad.

He will also attend an event marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp.