Jerusalem could host peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, says Zelensky

Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine could take place in Jerusalem, President Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested. Having spoken to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Ukraine’s president said yesterday: “I said to him that at present it’s not constructive to hold meetings in Russia, Ukraine, or Belarus. These are not the places where we agree to stop the war. “Do I consider Israel, Jerusalem in particular, to be such a place? I think the answer is yes.” Acting at the urging of Ukraine, Mr Bennett met Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday 5 March. He was the first western leader to meet the Russian president since the invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February. Mr Bennett has since spoken to both the Russian and Ukrainian presidents several times on the phone. Mr Zelensky said he believes Mr Bennett “can play an important role, because Israel is a country with a lot of history and parallels, as well as having a large migration of Jews from Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus.” Also yesterday, earlier media reports that Mr Bennett had urged Ukraine to surrender to Russia’s demands were firmly denied by a leading aide to Mr Zelensky. Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted that Israel "just as other conditional intermediary countries, does NOT offer Ukraine to agree to any demands of the Russian Federation. “This is impossible for military & political reasons. On the contrary, Israel urges Russia to assess the events more adequately." The denial was echoed by a senior Israeli official, who told Reuters that the reports were "patently false". The official said: ”At no point did Prime Minister Bennett advise President Zelenskiy to take a deal from Putin - because no such deal was offered to Israel for us to be able to do so.” Russian demands are believed to include Ukraine giving up the commitment to join NATO as well as recognising the annexation of Crimea and losing large swathes of territory in the Donbas, Donetsk and Luhansk to nominally independent entities. President Zelensky has said that a ceasefire would need to be in place before any negotiations begin. Israel has been maintaining a careful diplomatic balancing act since the outbreak of war in Ukraine. While Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has been clear in his condemnation of the invasion, Mr Bennett has been less vocal. Observers believe Israel is in part constrained by its need for the cooperation of Russia in dealing with its client state Syria.

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