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Zelensky changes tack after caustic speech, says ‘grateful’ for Bennett’s mediation
The poor man is playing both good cop and bad cop, in the hope that one or the other will work. [IsraelTimes] Following Knesset address in which he admonished Israel for not aiding Kyiv or joining Western sanctions, Ukrainian president says Jerusalem is ’the right place’ for peace talks.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky late on Sunday changed tack and thanked Israel in his nightly video address, after criticizing Israel bitterly in a speech to its politicians earlier in the day. "Of course, Israel has its interests, strategy to protect its citizens. We understand all of it," Zelensky said in a video he posts daily to social media. "The prime minister of Israel, Mr. [Naftali] Bennett, is trying to find a way of holding talks. And we are grateful for this. We are grateful for his efforts, so that sooner or later we will begin to have talks with Russia, possibly in Jerusalem," he said, according to a translation by Rooters. "That’s the right place to find peace. If possible," Zelensky said. "Russian propagandists have a tough task today," he added, "because for the first time in history, a president of a foreign nation spoke on video recording in the Knesset and to the whole nation of Israel... the president of Ukraine, who is accused of Nazism in Russia." In a caustic address to Knesset members on Sunday evening, Zelensky repeatedly invoked the Holocaust — comparing the plight of Ukraine under Russian assault to that of European Jews under the Nazis — and criticized Israel for failing to arm his country, impose sanctions on Russia, and open its doors wider to refugees. Israel has long maintained good relations with both Ukraine and Russia, and has been seeking to use its unique position to broker an agreement between the two sides, as it tries to walk a tightrope maintaining its ties to both countries. Posted by: trailing wife 2022-03-23 |
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