Zelenskyy: Netanyahu is trying to sit on two chairs even as Russia helps Iran
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been trying to maintain good relations with both Russia and Ukraine, despite Moscow's support for Iran.
Source: Zelenskyy in an interview with Axios
Quote: "My feeling is that Netanyahu always wants to balance between Russia and Ukraine, even when Russia is helping Iran. He is the prime minister of his country, he has to decided what to do."
Details: Zelenskyy noted that he has not spoken with Netanyahu for two years.
He said that it is "up to Israel to decide" whether it wants to cooperate with Ukraine and added that since the beginning of the war involving Iran, other countries have reached out to Ukraine for assistance, but Israel has not.
"We have what he needs and he has what we need.... we have a big deficit with air defence. But we have things Israel doesn't have and we are ready for this dialogue," Zelenskyy pointed out.
He also said that Ukraine had provided partners with evidence that Russia had shared satellite images of US and European military bases in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates with Iran. Zelenskyy added that Russian forces had also shared operational experience from the war in Ukraine with Iran, including tactics for using FPV drones.
The president noted that Middle Eastern leaders have differing views on how the war may develop, with some expecting it to continue and others hoping for a swift end.
Background:
- After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Israel condemned the aggression but refrained from supplying Ukraine with lethal weapons, limiting its support to humanitarian aid.
- The chiefs of the general staff of Ukraine and Qatar signed an agreement on mutually beneficial defence cooperation for at least 10 years on 28 March.
- Zelenskyy said Ukraine is also preparing to sign similar agreements with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, noting that these deals do not envisage Ukrainian troops taking part in conflicts abroad.
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