(Jerusalem) Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Saturday launched mediation in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, with visits to Moscow then Berlin and a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Posted at 12:19 p.m.
Updated at 2:42 p.m.
So far, Mr. Bennett has not joined in the concert of international condemnations of the Russian invasion of Ukraine launched on February 24, underlining the strong ties that unite Israel with Moscow and Kyiv.
Because of this closeness to the two belligerents, Israel offered to mediate, a proposal supported by Ukrainian officials.
Mr. Bennett flew to Moscow on Saturday where he met Russian President Vladimir Putin for “about three hours”, according to his services.
This is the first visit to Russia by a foreign leader, linked to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
He then spoke on the phone with Volodymyr Zelensky before traveling to Berlin to meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Few details have leaked out on the exact content of the discussions.
Mr. Bennett’s services did not explicitly mention the Russian invasion, confining themselves to indicating that he had mentioned “the situation of Israelis and Jewish communities following the conflict”.
In a statement, the Kremlin said that MM. Putin and Bennett discussed “various aspects of the situation in Ukraine within the framework of Russia’s special military operation for the protection of Donbass”.
Mr. Bennett “consulted with the United States, Germany and France” before his meeting with the Russian president, said his services.
In Paris, a statement from the presidency said that President Emmanuel Macron had “spoken to the Prime Minister this morning before he left for Moscow in a logic of coordinating efforts to obtain a cessation of fighting”.
“The president told him about his last conversations with President Putin. They will remain in contact with this same objective which is to obtain a ceasefire and this in coordination also with Chancellor Scholz”, according to the text.
Mr. Bennett is a religious Jew who does not conduct official business on Saturday, the Jewish weekly day of rest, except in extraordinary circumstances.
Mr. Bennett’s visit is the first by a foreign leader linked to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was in Russia the day after the invasion but his visit was long planned.