The Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Benethas traveled today to Moscow and has met with Russian President Vladimir Putinin an attempt to mediate for the end of the armed conflict unleashed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “The prime minister took off for Moscow early this morning, after speaking with President Putin last Wednesday,” the government press office confirmed in a terse statement.
Benet had long telephone conversations on Wednesday with both the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyas later with Putin, in which he once again offered to mediate to end the war by virtue of the good direct relationship that Israel maintains with both countries.
The Zelensky himself asked Benet last weekend in another phone call that he trusted Israel’s mediating role and even raised a summit in jerusalem, although Putin seems to have rejected that option by opting for talks in Belarus. The Israeli Prime Minister, Orthodox Jewmade the unusual decision to travel in full shabbatthe weekly Jewish holiday in which political activity comes to a standstill in Israel.
measured tone
The official government statement does not mention Ukraine or the Russian invasion, in line with the measured tone and the low profile that Israel has maintained on the conflict, so as not to damage its strategic relationship with Russia, although it maintains its alliance with Western powers and the US and has defended the “territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine”.
Israel It maintains close coordination with Russia since the beginning of hostilities in Syria to bomb positions of pro-Iranian forces that have been maintained these days since the start of the war in Ukraine, something that for the Jewish State is a priority on its foreign agenda.
Related news
Benet He insisted that Israel’s position is “measured and responsible”, since it is one of the few countries in the world that maintains a good relationship and direct communication with both Russia and Ukraine.
In addition, some 1.2 million Jews from the former USSR live in Israel, most of them from Russia and Ukraine; countries where there are also important Jewish communities that the Israeli government did not want to harm by taking a clear position against the invasion.
www.elperiodico.com
Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.