Ukraine’s Leader Asks Bennett to Mediate with Russia, Host Talks in Jerusalem
Kyiv’s envoy to Israel confirms request to NY Times: ‘We do believe that Israel is the only democratic state in the world that has great relations with both Ukraine and Russia’.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky asked Prime Minister Naftali Bennett for Israel to serve as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine during their phone call last night, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
This is not the first time Zelensky has made such a request, but it is the first time he has done so since Russia began invading Ukraine early Thursday morning.
Israel is one of the few countries that holds relatively warm ties with both Russia and Ukraine.
“We want the negotiations to take place in Jerusalem,” Kan quotes Zelensky as having told Bennett, expressing home that he could help negotiate a ceasefire. “We think that Israel is the country that could hold such negotiations in the middle of the war.”
The Kan report, relying on sources familiar with the call, did not say what Bennett’s response was, and the Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment.
“They didn’t say no,” he said. “They are trying to figure out where they are in this chess play.”
He noted that Ukrainian officials would be more comfortable holding such talks in Jerusalem than in Russia’s ally nation Belarus, where Moscow had proposed to negotiate. Israel, Korniychuk said, is seen as a more neutral party.
According to Kan, Zelensky told Bennett: “We want the negotiations to take place in Jerusalem. We think that Israel is the country that could hold such negotiations in the middle of the war.”
The Kan report, relying on unnamed sources familiar with the call, did not say what Bennett’s response was, and the Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment.
On Friday, tentative discussions on an offer by Zelensky to designate Ukraine a non-aligned country appeared to break down over the proposed venue for the talks.
The Kremlin had said President Vladimir Putin was ready to send a delegation to Belarus for talks to discuss the proposal that suggests Zelensky would be willing to negotiate dropping his country’s bid to join NATO.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett leads a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem on February 13, 2022. (Amit Shabi)
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ukrainian officials reversed course and said they were unwilling to travel to Minsk for talks, proposing Warsaw as a venue instead. He said the Ukrainians then cut off communication.
Before the invasion, the West had rejected Russia’s demand to keep Ukraine out of NATO. Putin used the refusal to justify the invasion, claiming that the West left him no other choice.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Zelensky of “simply lying” about the non-alignment offer, saying the president “missed the opportunity” to discuss Ukraine’s neutral status when Putin initially proposed it.
According to a readout from Bennett’s office earlier in the day, the premier offered Zelensky to send humanitarian assistance to the embattled nation. The two discussed the fighting in Ukraine, especially around the capital, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
Bennett told Zelensky that he hopes the war will end soon, and sent a message of support to the Ukrainian people, according to the statement.
Consistent with Bennett’s address on Thursday, the statement from his office did not include any condemnation of Russian actions, nor did it mention Russia by name.
According to Kan, the call was initiated by Zelensky.
Judah Ari Gross and Lazar Berman contributed to this report.
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