Bennett, who assumed the role of mediator between Russia and Ukraine at the beginning of the Russian "special operation", in an almost five-hour YouTube interview - from which the Israeli media published more details since Saturday evening - reported in detail Vladimir Putin of Russia, Volodymyr Zelenskyi of Ukraine, Joe Biden about his negotiations with American and French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
In the interview, in which the Russian media showed serious interest, Bennett, who claims to be neutral, said that he coordinated his steps with Washington, Berlin and Paris down to the smallest details. When asked whether the West had decided to break off the negotiations, the former Israeli prime minister stated, according to TASZSZ:
“Basically yes. They (the Western countries) broke off the negotiations, and it seemed to me at the time that they were doing it wrong. And now I say that it would be too early to draw conclusions".
According to Russian press reports, Bennett said that 17-18 draft agreements were reached during the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations, none of which has been leaked so far. He said that in one of the first exchanges, Putin expressed his readiness to give up the "de-Nazification" and "demilitarization" named as the goals of the Russian "special operation", and Zelensky did not shy away from renouncing Ukraine's NATO membership.
According to the ex-Israeli prime minister, the West finally decided to "take a more decisive position", and he also approves of this decision.
"Let's just say that, in my view, the West has very correctly decided that instead of negotiations, it is still necessary to defeat Putin"
- He told.
"Another confession!" Zaharova wrote in response to the statement.
This indicated that, according to Moscow, the West did not seek a diplomatic solution in Ukraine. On the Russian side, attention was repeatedly drawn to the fact that in recent weeks former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former French President Francois Hollande have admitted that the 2015 Minsk-2 package of agreements, considered the basis of the settlement in Ukraine, was signed in order to give Kyiv a chance to strengthen itself.
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:
the series of Russian-Ukrainian-German-French negotiations in the "Normandy format" was a "diplomatic shambles".
Bennett also said in the interview that Putin had assured him that he was not going to kill Zelensky. According to him, after communicating this to Zelensky, who was hiding in the bunker, he went back to his office and declared in a selfie video that he was not afraid.
MTI
Photo: MTI/EPA
