As Russia’s offensive on Ukraine continues unabated on the 17th consecutive day, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to take the offer made by Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war. As per Israeli news agency – The Jerusalem Post, Bennett made this suggestion during their phone call on Tuesday, informed a govt official. However, Zelenskyy did not pay heed to Bennett’s advice, added the govt official.
Bennett urges Ukraine to take Russia’s offer
As per the report, Bennett reportedly said, “If I were you, I would think about the lives of my people and take the offer”. To which Zelenskyy said, “I hear you,” refusing to surrender. Ukraine now fears a ‘chemical/bioweapon attack’ by Russia – which has accused the former of developing ‘bioweapons near Russian territory’. Israel, apart from Germany, France, China and India have urged Moscow to stop its aggressive attack on Kyiv.
Putin has issued three demands to stop his attack on Kyiv – Ukraine cease military action, change its constitution to enshrine neutrality, acknowledge Crimea as Russian territory, and recognise the separatist republics of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent states. In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, “I think that items regarding temporarily occupied territories and pseudo-republics not recognized by anyone but Russia, we can discuss and find a compromise”, in an interview to ABC news. He has also said, “We have understood NATO is not prepared to accept Ukraine”.
For weeks, Moscow massed over 150,000 troops on Ukraine’s borders in a bid to pressurise Western nations to not allow Ukraine to join NATO, threatening an invasion. On February 24, Putin ordered a special military operation in Ukraine’s Donbas region, which quickly accelerated into precision airstrikes on Kyiv, Kharkiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, deployed tanks towards Lviv from the Belarus-Ukraine border. Russia has already taken over Kherson, two Ukrainian nuclear power plants – Chernobyl & Zaporizhzhya and is heading towards Yuzhnoukrainsk.
Inspite of a full-fledged attack, Russia has been unable to take over Kyiv, inching its long convoy of tanks towards it – where Zelenskyy stands determined. Russia’s navy has been activated in a bid to take over the southern port of Odesa, cutting off Ukraine’s access to the Black Sea. Russia has been slapped with a bevy of sanctions by Europe, US, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore – focused on energy exports, investments, power, military, transport, telecommunications, banking, trade. Most international brands have pulled out of Russia and oligarchs have had their asserts abroad seized by European nations. Over 2.5 million Ukrainians have fled and at least 549 civilians have been killed in Ukraine.