New Delhi: Stepping into the role of a mediator to resolve the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on Saturday (March 5) to discuss the war in Ukraine. He later dialed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Bennett’s spokesperson informed.
In his three-hour long meeting with Putin, the Israeli PM also raised the issue of the large Jewish community caught up in the war in Ukraine, Reuters cited an official as saying.
“Bennett is coordinating his efforts in the crisis with the United States, France and Germany”, an Israeli official said.
Israel played mediator at the behest of the Ukrainian president, however, officials earlier played down expectations of any breakthrough in the ongoing conflict.
Israel has decided to send medical teams to Ukraine next week to set up a field hospital to provide treatment for refugees, its Health Ministry announced. Russia's invasion has led to nearly 1.3 million refugees escaping westward into the European Union. the head of the U.N. refugee agency predicted that the number of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion could rise to 1.5 million by the end of the weekend from a current 1.3 million.
Israel has denounced the Russian invasion and backed Ukraine, saying it will maintain contact with Moscow in the hope of helping to ease the crisis.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Saturday and said that the Western sanctions were akin to a declaration of war. Moscow and Kyiv blamed each other over a failed ceasefire to enable civilians to evacuate two cities besieged by Russian forces.
(With agency inputs)
