(Jerusalem) Israel on Saturday refuted allegations by a Ukrainian official that the Jewish state had called on the Ukrainian president to accept the terms proposed by Moscow to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Posted at 10:28 a.m.
According to several Israeli media, a senior official of the Ukrainian government would have considered ineffective the mediation efforts of the Israeli government which, according to him, would only transmit messages from one party to the other like a “mailbox”.
The unidentified senior Ukrainian official reportedly claimed Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett wants Ukraine to surrender and urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to accept Moscow’s terms in a phone conversation, the left-leaning daily reported. Haretz.
“These statements […] are totally untrue,” a spokeswoman for Mr. Bennett said in a statement Saturday, a rare occurrence on Shabbat, the Jewish weekly day of rest.
“At no time did Prime Minister Bennett advise President Zelensky to accept a deal with Putin,” she said.
“At no time” did he “tell Zelensky how he should act and he has no intention of doing so,” she added.
Since the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Israel has been careful not to condemn too strongly the offensive launched by Russia, underlining the strong ties that unite it both in Moscow and in Kyiv.
But at the same time, Mr. Bennett sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine and attempted to mediate between the two countries, even visiting the Kremlin.
On Monday, Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Korniychuk, praised Israeli mediation efforts, but regretted that the Jewish state had not approved the shipment of defensive equipment, in particular helmets and body armor. -bullets to his country.
According to Israeli media, Bennett has repeatedly rejected Kyiv’s requests for military assistance.
On Friday, Korniychuk further urged Israel to join Western sanctions against Russia.