Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet said he obtained assurances from Russian President Vladimir Putin that he would not kill his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky when they met in the early days of the war last year.
Mr Bennet flew to Moscow to mediate last March shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In an interview posted on his YouTube channel, the Israeli ex-premier said he had received “two great concessions”, the Times of Israel reported.
When he asked Mr Putin whether he intended to kill Mr Zelensky, Mr Putin had replied “I won’t kill Zelensky.” And when Mr Bennett pressed the Russian leader, he repeated the pledge.
Mr Bennett said that Mr Putin had also agreed not to push for the disarming of Ukraine, while Mr Zelensky the same weekend shelved Ukraine’s move to join Nato.
Mr Bennett said he had co-ordinated his mediation efforts with the USA.
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