On Friday 11th March, Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Naftali Bennet told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he recommends Ukraine take the offer made by Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war – which includes many Ukrainian sacrifices – in a phone call on Tuesday, according to an official in Ukraine’s government.
“If I were you, I would think about the lives of my people and take the offer,” the Jerusalem Post quoted Bennett as having told Zelensky on Tuesday during a phone call, citing an unnamed senior Ukrainian official.
Zelensky’s response was short: “I hear you,” he said.
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“Bennett told us to surrender,” the official said, according to the Post, which added that Kiev apparently had “no intention” of agreeing to President Putin’s demands.
According to the report, the Ukrainian president and his people did not like the advice.
However, a top official in Bennett’s office quickly denied that any suggestion to surrender had been made, saying the Israeli PM “doesn’t intend to give Zelensky any recommendations or advice at any stage,” Axios reported.
On Saturday, top Ukrainian government adviser Mykhailo Podolyak also denied that Zelensky had been advised to surrender.
In the past two weeks, and especially since Bennett’s visit to Moscow, the prime minister’s office and the Foreign Ministry have been claiming that Israel’s mediation efforts force them to keep an even more cautious and balanced approach. This message was also passed quietly to Zelensky’s office. The official also said that Israel asked Ukraine not to request more military and defense aid because such a request could harm the mediation efforts.
The unnamed Ukrainian official also claimed Bennett was using mediation as an “excuse” to avoid sanctioning Russia or sending military aid to Ukraine, according to a report by Haaretz, and that Bennett should be acting as more than merely a “mailbox” between Moscow and Kiev.
“If Bennett wants to be neutral and mediate, we would like to see him appoint someone who will deal with the matter day and night to try and reach a compromise,” he reportedly said.
Russia has demanded that Ukraine declare itself a neutral country and vow never to join the US-led NATO military bloc. On Friday, Vladimir Putin claimed there had been “some positive developments” in talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators, but did not elaborate.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
