Israel and Ukraine deny claims Zelensky was told to ‘surrender’ to Putin’s demands
Israel and Ukraine have denied claims that Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennet told Volodymyr Zelensky to strike a deal with Vladimir Putin, in order to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The denials come after US new site Axios said Bennet had advised Zelensky to accept Putin’s proposals and cave in to Russia demands, to end the war in Ukraine.
According to Axios, a senior Ukrainian official told the website: “Bennett is basically telling us to surrender and we have no intention of doing that.”
The claims come as Bennett has emerged as one of main mediators in talks between Russia and Ukraine.
Israel has so far remained neutral in the conflict and has refused to sanction Russia or deliver weapons to Ukraine.
According to Axios, the Ukrainian official claimed that Bennet’s bid to position himself as a mediator in the conflict is simply a means of excusing Israel’s neutrality in the conflict, as it seeks to maintain its relationship with Russia.
“His initiative looks like an excuse for why he is not speaking out against Russia, not providing weapons to Ukraine and not sanctioning Russia,” the Ukrainian official reportedly said.
Israel’s neutral stance comes as critics claim the Israeli government is reluctant to take a firm stance against Russia, due to fears Russia would prevent the Israeli Air Force from bombing Iranian convoys in Syria, if it were to interfere.
Russia has allowed Israeli to attack Iranian forces due to seeing Iran as a potential rival in influencing Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.